


Find me in the Darkness

by TsukimoriMadoka



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Big Brother Tony Stark, Brother-Sister Relationships, F/M, Guess it's better if no one finds out, He does not like being on earth, Loki Falls In Love, Loki is an idiot, More characters to be added in the future - Freeform, Post-Avengers (2012), Rating May Change, Secret Relationship, Slow Burn, Slow To Update, So Does Loki, Suicide Attempt, Tags May Change, There will be a warning for the chapter once that comes up, Thor & Loki sibling bonding, Thor just wants the best for his brother, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Work In Progress, eventually this will get to Infinity War & Endgame contents, will follow the rest of the movies in parts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-24
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2020-01-31 09:00:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 59,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18588010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TsukimoriMadoka/pseuds/TsukimoriMadoka
Summary: “Let's face it. None of us will leave this tower.”The tower, which had become a sign of hope to a lot of people, was a prison to her.Mary Patterson had moved to New York in an attempt to connect with her half-brother. The fact that she had never met him in person wasn't the best requirement for that. Though she didn't expect things to go smoothly, the adventure which awaited her gave her far more than she wished for.Especially since there were superheroes and gods involved.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This idea is 2 years old, so are my notes or rather the ones I still have. After seeing Endgame ~ 24hours ago I felt the need to write/finish this and get it out of my system. For now, this story will be my happy bubble before everything that happens from the start of IW.
> 
> Hope you enjoy.

For a moment she wondered if coming to New York had been a good idea. Sure, it was what she wanted otherwise she wouldn’t be here right now. She had wanted to see her brother or half-brother to be more specific. They shared the same father but unlike Tony, she wasn't so lucky to have met him before he passed away years ago. And then, after seeing various reports about an alien attack in New York, with Tony fighting said aliens, Mary realized that there was a high chance to have lost him there and then.

She didn't want to let the chance to be a family slip away like that. No matter how Tony would react, as she knew beforehand that there was a very high chance he wouldn't want to see her. Things were complicated. Both knew the other existed and that was basically it. 

Mary didn't know anything about Tony's life except what one could see on TV or read in newspapers. He was famous, that made it easier to know a few things about him. She herself, however, was no one but a woman searching for her place within Tony's world. Would he recognize her? Would he push her away?

It didn't matter. She wanted a new start. She needed it.

Leaving behind her old life she made her way to New York knowing her brother was here. The start was rocky, as to be expected. It didn't mean that she would change anything about her initial decision but maybe she would have done things differently. Maybe her brother would have done so as well. It was too late for that now and she had to realize just how many problems it could cause because of the mere fact that she was related to Tony Stark. 

She could hear him calling out for her, almost screaming. His voice seemed so far away. 

She had no idea where she was. Ever since she was taken she had been blindfolded most of the time. She couldn't tell who kidnapped her either, only that her kidnappers had often spoken in a language she didn't understand. The people who had brought her here, wherever here exactly was, spoke in English now. Their voices sounded muffled to her. She could make out words and sentences every once in a while but it seemed like they were not standing right next to her as they spoke.

There were other voices she recognized. Voices of her brother’s friends. Whatever was going on seemed to be serious - given that she was kidnapped it was actually no surprise. 

There is shuffling, then footsteps. The blindfold is removed and for a few seconds, she can see the clear blue sky. The next thing she feels is pain. After that, there's nothing but darkness and Tony screaming her name. 

“Mary!!”


	2. The One with a Visit from the Past

**Three months earlier**

She had been standing in front of the tower a few times. Never this close though. 

She started to watch from the other side of the street. Staring at the door, unmoving. Sometimes for nothing more than five minutes, sometimes for an hour. Her thoughts racing around her brother who lived in the building. They had never met but she knew he wouldn't be thrilled to see her. Things were complicated and she couldn't blame him if he would just send her away without listening first. Or maybe he would listen and then send her away afterward.

Mary Patterson, 27, was facing the to the most difficult task of her life. 

Talking to her half-brother. 

She had seen him several days earlier when he came back home. He was with one of his friends, Steve Rogers was his name as far as Mary knew. She had read a few things about him in the past. Tony had looked into her direction and Mary immediately turned and walked away. She didn't feel ready to face him then. She didn't feel ready now. 

Nevertheless, Mary walked towards the door of the tower. It's shadow looming over her like a bad omen for what was to come. She was surprised that she made it this far. Not only because there were repairs done close by so both workers and security was around, but also because of the fact that there was no kind of gate you had to pass to get to the front door. Literally, anyone could walk up and ring the doorbell. Today that person was her and as she moved her hand towards the doorbell, Mary had to realize she was trembling. She hadn't paid attention to how nervous she actually was before now. Maybe it just got worse with every step she took towards the door. Who could tell? One thing was for sure: the fear of rejection inside had grown and while, besides the trembling hand, you couldn't see it on the outside, she was a mess. 

A voice reached her ears. It sounded.. artificial. Probably something her brother had made. To be honest she barely knew anything about what Tony did or worked on apart from what you could see on TV or read in the papers. She was sure there was a lot more the world didn’t know about. Having an artificial door system probably wasn't a big deal. 

“How can I help you, Miss?”

“Um.. hello. I wanted to speak to Tony Stark if that’s possible.”

There was a moment of silence. Mary guessed that Tony would get some kind of information that someone was here and wanted to see him. “I'm sorry but Mister Stark has no time at the moment, he's in a meeting.”

“Okay then”, what did she expect? That she could just enter like this? Her brother was living together with various superheroes as media and people liked to call them. There sure were a lot of women trying to ‘speak’ with them. Thinking about it she recalled a few women and some men standing in front of the tower during some of her other visits. They would wait just like her, though for very different reasons. Mary noticed that there was a camera so she guessed Tony could see her too. “Well, I'll come back another time. If it's not much trouble please let him know I stopped by.”

“May I ask your name, Miss?”

“Mary Patterson, I'm his sister.”

~*~

Tony barely listened to Nick Fury as the man stood at the other end of the table the Avengers sat at. It was a standard meeting. Kind of. There were a lot of those since the battle of New York. 

Even after everyone went their own way Fury made sure they would stay in contact and right now was one of the first times the group had been together again. Almost that is. Thor wasn’t around, he hadn’t been since he went back home. No one had heard of him, the Tesseract or Loki. Everyone else, even if they were hundreds of miles away, would call every once in a while. Natasha and Clint were the ones who were around the least often. In fact, Natasha had returned to New York two days ago. Wherever she had been was a mystery and since it seemed to have been some kind of job, she didn’t intend to talk about it.

And no one asked.

Yes, they were a team and worked together if there was a need for that. But every one of them also had their own lives and jobs to take care of. And those tended to be private.

Fury, walking around the table, noted that attacks like that could happen again. Just because Loki was ‘save’ in Asgard didn't mean others wouldn't try it instead. 

The fight, having happened five months ago, still left parts of the city in chaos. There were a lot of places that needed to be repaired. The tower included though most of the repairs here were already done. The repairs included rooms for every ‘Avenger’ where they could stay if they wanted to. If Tony was honest to himself he didn’t like being here most of the time. One reason was that it reminded him too much of everything that had happened. And so he preferred to stay in his house in Malibu, along with Pepper.

It was a nice place to be.

The view was better too. Looking out of the window here showed him a busy city. It showed him millions of people who could have died. 

He wanted to forget about it. Actually, maybe the fact that Fury was here wasn’t so bad. Listening to him made Tony focus on something else than his thoughts. At least for a bit because the meeting was interrupted by Jarvis who informed them of a visitor asking to speak to Tony.

If it hadn’t been for Fury and ‘the importance of the meeting’ as he would say, Tony would've checked who it was. Everything was better than listening to the same old things - even if it kept him from getting lost in his thoughts. It didn’t matter if whoever was at the door was a fan or a delivery person, checking it out seemed like a much better option at this point. Tony, however, was also aware that Fury would come up with something to make him feel bad if he’d leave the table. And even if that wouldn’t bother him, he would have no rest because there was a high possibility Fury would talk to Pepper who, in return would talk with Tony. And she was really good with making him feel like the bad guy.

He was safer if he stayed with the group.

What he, and the others, didn't expect though was a second interruption. It wasn’t an unusual thing in general, though given the current situation it was. Jarvis was aware that when Fury was here and they had a meeting, interruptions weren’t welcomed. Unless they were important or could be important. A woman who wanted to talk to him? Didn’t sound like that.

“I'm sorry sir. The young woman who requested to talk to you is leaving, but I thought it might be of importance to inform you that she claimed to be your sister.”

At that point, everyone turned to look at Tony. He had never said anything about a sister, there were no notes of her either. If the information S.H.I.E.L.D. had were accurate no such person existed. 

“You have a sister?”, Steve was clearly surprised by that revelation. 

Fury gave a low chuckle. “If he had S.H.I.E.L.D. would know. There’s no way to keep that a secret”, maybe from the other members because it would be safer for the person it was about, but not from him. There was just no way. Even if Tony wouldn’t mention her, why wouldn’t she just go out and tell everyone about it? Not that people would believe her but still. What was there to gain by claiming to be related to one of the Avengers but staying quiet about it?

Tony just shook his head with a sigh. “Guess some women take it to a whole new level just to be invited inside”, he chuckled and leaned back in his chair. In the past, there had been a few occasions where someone tried to get inside the tower by coming up with the wildest stories. Starting with old school friends up to future brides to be. The ‘family approach’ was new. Because of past incidents, Jarvis would now inform Tony about anyone who came up with a story that appeared to be a blatant lie so he could check it out later on. The last thing he needed was a surprise because he ignored warning signs that some weird person was following him around. 

Tony’s eyes traveled from one person to the other. They were all staring at him. “What? Do you seriously believe I have a sister or a sibling in general?”

“One of you is enough already, I gotta admit that”, smiling, more to himself than to anyone else, Clint turned his attention back to Fury.

Tony didn’t say anything more and so one by one everyone did look back at Fury. Everyone except for Natasha who had noted a look of surprise on Tony’s face when he heard the word ‘sister’. While everyone else seemed to believe him she had her doubts and continued to stare at Tony as Fury proceeded to talk. Tony had turned his attention to Fury as well when he felt like someone was watching him. Looking around the table he immediately saw Natasha looking at him. She didn’t even stop and he knew that he wouldn’t get out of this situation so easy.

She felt like he was hiding something. That was more than clear.

And so, as soon as the meeting was over and Fury dismissed everyone, Natasha walked up to Tony and stopped him from getting away. Because that was exactly what he was trying to do right now.

Ignoring the others Natasha walked close by Tony before whispering. “Meet me in your office in five. We need to talk.”

Everyone else went their way. Bruce had something in the lab he needed to check upon, Clint and Steve decided it was time to grab some food, thus they left the building along with Fury who had to return to S.H.I.E.L.D.. Clint had asked both Natasha and Tony if they wanted to join him and Steve but they had denied, stating that they had something to do.

Given the fact that Clint had known Natasha for a while, he could tell something was off. He didn’t want to pry on it though. Last time he did he had to realize that there were certain days where it was better to leave women alone and don’t ask questions. Something he knew from his wife too. She wasn’t half as scary as Natasha though. 

~*~

Tony sat on his chair behind the desk when the door opened without hearing someone knock before. He didn’t expect anyone else other than Natasha to be honest. After she had told him to meet her in his office he went straight to the room to wait for her. She didn’t say anything as she entered, closing the door behind her. Maybe she expected him to say something first but he was not giving her that. She wanted to talk, not him. If he had any say in this he would’ve made sure no one would mention the word sister in his home again.

He wasn’t ready to talk about this.

Natasha however was.

She waited for a few more moments to see if Tony would say anything before she figured that wasn’t happening. Natasha wanted to shake her head at his behavior but refrained from it.

“The woman who claimed to be your sister, she is, isn’t she?”

Right to the point. There was no way to ignore Natasha now. “What makes you say that?”

“There was something in your eyes when you heard the word ‘sister’. Surprise I guess. I have to say that I never thought you had a sibling. You just don’t seem to be the ‘brother type’”, with that Natasha sat down in a chair in front of Tony’s desk.

Silence fell over the room. 

Natasha continued to look at Tony who suddenly found the pen on his desk way more interesting than anything else. He didn’t want to talk about this. Especially not with Natasha who already knew too much for his liking. He felt like she would find out eventually anyway. Him not saying anything and ignoring her was a silent way of telling that there was indeed more to the claims of the woman than he admitted.

“I don’t think I can expect you to keep this to you?”

“Depends on whether or not I believe this could be a problem or be dangerous”, she got into a more comfortable position, eyes still on Tony. “If she’s telling the truth I guess you have your reasons not to tell anyone.”

Tony gave a slow nod in response. “If she is indeed who I think she is, she’s my half-sister. I’d have to check with Jarvis and the surveillance cameras for that but yes, even though you don’t think of me as the brother type I’m just that. Minus a lot of things to be honest”, he was a shitty brother, he couldn’t deny that. Even though he didn’t feel the need to change anything about that. He had decided to not have any kind of contact with his sister or her mother. He had ignored her letters for the most part which had been, up until now, the only way she had tried to get in contact with him. There had been postcards too. From what he knew her mother was still working as a photographer, traveling the world and taking her daughter with her. Those letters and postcards had stopped coming years ago. Tony figured that she had finally realized that he would never answer. 

“The truth is that I don’t want to have contact with her.”

“Because your father had an affair?”, Natasha raised an eyebrow. “You’re aware that she’s not the one to blame for that right? Don’t you want to know why she’s here?”

“Her brother is all over the news, take your guess why she’s here.”

“Do you really think that’s the reason?”, Natasha wondered if he was serious. He definitely looked like it but she found it hard to believe. Tony had been ‘all over the news’ before so in her opinion, it must have been more than that. “You know, I could check her out. See why she’s here. If she is indeed your sister. Maybe that’ll change your point of view.”

“I doubt it, but you certainly can do so if you must. I’m honest: I don’t care.”

Natasha could hear the lie in his words. He did care but she guessed that he was too afraid to admit it. To her, himself or anyone for that matter. 

“Well, I guess I won’t have any problems to get the tape from the door camera then?”

“Just tell Jarvis what you need.”

He was not looking forward to what Natasha would find out.

~*~

Mary had made her way to her workplace, a small diner in a side street, after walking around for a bit without a clear goal in mind. She had taken the day off so she could talk to Tony which wasn’t successful at all. Now she had no idea what to do with her time and figured that she could as well stop by to eat something and, if she had time, talk to Valerie.

Since she had started working at the diner almost three months ago she and Valerie had grown close. The young woman had been working there for five years and decided to take Mary under her wings. Mary appreciated that. Through the work and their private talks, it didn’t take long for Mary to talk about her brother. She had never mentioned his name though. She felt like it would cause too many problems and so he continued to be nameless whenever she talked about him.

It was Valerie who helped her gaining enough courage to meet Tony in the first place.

Even if that didn’t go as planned.

Maybe it wasn’t so bad because even if Mary wasn’t as afraid anymore she couldn’t shake that feeling entirely. The shaking hand earlier was enough proof for that.

The diner was surprisingly empty when Mary entered. It was rather early, though Mary had experienced days where it was hard to find a free place at a time like this - the diner wasn’t big either. All in all, depending on the seating arrangements, around thirty people could fit in here and enjoy their food and drinks. That was if people would be willing to share the table with strangers. The atmosphere was very homey. It reminded Mary of a small place she and her mum went when they traveled through France years ago.

Nostalgia washed over her as she recalled those days. She could need a superhero who could turn back time.

“Hey, Mary!”

Turning towards the direction the voice came from she spotted a tall, dark blonde female who waved at her before turning to the customer she was serving with a smile.

Mary took the moment to sit down at one of the booths and wait for Valerie to finish and come over to her. Looking around she wondered where Brian was. She had asked him to switch in for her today. Seeing that he was a smoker there was a high chance he was out in the back to do something about that addiction of his. Mary never understood the appeal of smoking in the first place. If people felt like they had to, and at one point they sure wouldn’t stop doing so, so be it. 

As long as it didn’t interfere with their work.. which seemed to be the case for Brian.

“Good day fair lady, how may I help you today?”

“How about speaking normally?”, Mary smiled at Valerie who returned the smile. 

“Well, you certainly don’t sound like you had a good day. I take it the meeting with your brother didn’t go as planned?”

Mary shook her head. “How about you bring me some food, get Brian to work and join me so I can tell you? Where is he anyway?”

“Smoking,” so she had been right about it. “I’ll get him. Give me a few minutes and don’t go anywhere until I’m back with the food”, Valerie was already on her way to the kitchen to place the order when she spoke those words.

Several minutes passed when the doorbell rang to announce new customers. Mary couldn’t see them because her back was facing the door, but she could hear their voices as they talked.

“This is the place you and Natasha found?”

“Yes, you’ll love it. I’m sure. Come on, let’s sit over there.”

It brought a smile to Mary’s face. One of the men, the one who had been here before based on what he said, seemed to be confident that his friend would enjoy his stay. Returning customers were some of the best. Bringing their friends along was even better.

It wasn’t long after that when Valerie returned with a plate of food. Brian was right behind her and while she sat down on the opposite side of Mary, Brian walked past them to take care of the newly arrived customers. Mary whispered a small ‘hello’ and received a nod in return before she turned her attention at Valerie and the food she had brought.

“Pancakes?”

“It’s food and I’m craving them”, she held up two forks. “Don’t tell me you thought you get to eat while I just sit here and listen.” Valerie handed Mary one of the forks before she began eating. “So, tell me. I didn’t expect to see you until tomorrow and your earlier reaction gives me a reason to believe your brother wasn’t pleased to see you?”

Sighing Mary began to poke the pancakes. “I didn’t even see him,” she received a surprised look from her friend. “Went to his place but I was told he was in a meeting. I don’t know if it’s the truth, he.. maybe he just doesn’t want to see me in the first place and I feel kind of dumb I even went there.”

“Woah! Wait a second! You’ve been talking about seeing him for weeks and now you regret that choice?”

She shook her head. “I don’t necessarily regret it. I’m not surprised about his reaction is what I’m trying to say, but I.. hoped he would give me a chance to talk to him.” 

“You make it sound like you don’t intend to try again.”

“Maybe I don’t. I’m not sure. It’s just so complicated”, with that Mary began eating as well, hoping that Valerie would drop the topic for now. She didn’t want to talk about her brother for the rest of the day. She wanted to enjoy it. Maybe walk by the bookstore on her way back home or spend some time at Central Park. The place seemed magical. A green oasis in between hundred of buildings, drowning out the sounds of the busy city. 

“Because his dad had sex with your mum, resulting in her getting pregnant and having you? He should be mature enough to know he can’t blame you for that. If he wants to be angry at someone it should be his dad. Well, your dad”, shrugging Valerie continued to eat more of the pancakes. As she moved her eyes from the food back to her friend she noticed a stern expression on her face. “What?”

“First: can you please tone down the volume, you don’t need to inform the other customers or our coworkers and second: our dad is dead. He can’t be angry at him anymore.”

The blonde woman looked around. None of the other customers seemed to bother. The two guys who sat in the booth behind Mary were drinking their coffee in silence while waiting for the food they had ordered. The people she had served earlier were talking too and thus didn’t pay attention. There were a few more people at the other end of the diner who were too far away to be able to hear something. Even Brian, who was behind the counter didn’t listen to them.

“I don’t think anyone here is interested in your family constellation. Anyone but me at least.”

Mary had to smile when she saw Valerie giving her a wink. That was true. Mary was aware that Valerie was just worried and wanted to help. She appreciated that and couldn’t be angry at her friend because of it. Not long enough to care anyway. “Let’s just drop the topic okay? I’m not in the mood to bother about him anymore for today and probably the next days as well. I think it’s best to keep my distance for now and concentrate on more important things.”

“Oh, and that would be..” 

“Work. Hanging out with you”, she smiled. “We should have a movie night on the weekend.”

“Only if I get to pick them.”

“Deal.”

While Mary and Valerie continued eating and chatting, Brian brought the food for the other booth where Clint and Steve sat. They had barely talked. Instead, they had listened to the conversation. It wasn’t something they’d normally do but given the earlier situation at the tower, this seemed too familiar. The young woman never mentioned a name, but the way she spoke about her brother and what had happened earlier this day, there was no doubt she was the one who was at the tower.

Since Clint had been here before he tried to recall the face of the woman. When it was clear that she worked here he knew there was a high possibility he had seen her before. From his perspective, he was sitting in the direction facing the two women, he could just see her back. She did have the same dark hair as Tony but that wasn’t enough to say they were actually related. Nevertheless, both, Clint and Steve, made a mental note to talk to Tony once they returned to the tower.


	3. The One where Natasha makes a Decision

When Clint and Steve made it back home, with some takeaways for Natasha since Clint knew she would appreciate it, they both went to look for her first and then they would look for Tony. Because they had to make sure whether the woman they heard talking at the diner was Tony’s sister or not. Maybe she was a different person, maybe she was lying. The only person to lift that secret was Tony himself.

Clint had managed to take a picture of her with his phone when he came back from the restroom. It wasn’t the best but it would work. If Natasha had come with them she would probably have been able to get a better one. 

It wouldn’t take the men long to find Natasha. The moment they stepped out of the elevator and into the living area they spotted her sitting at a table going through some notes.

She looked up at the sound of them arriving. “Welcome back. I take it you had food?”

“Yes”, Clint held up a small bag. “Brought you something.”

“Thanks. You can put it aside. I’m going to leave in a bit, I just have to go through some papers and.. hey.”

She looked at Clint when he put the food down right next to her notes, his eyes fixed on what she was looking at.

“Looks like you’re working on getting info about Tony’s sister”, he noticed as he looked at a picture that seemed to come from the surveillance videos. “Did you talk to him about her?”

“You’re awfully interested in that.”

“Because we saw her”, Steve took a turn to look at the photo now. “Seems like she works in the diner Clint took me too.”

“No wonder she seemed familiar”, Natasha had the nagging feeling to have seen the woman before but couldn’t place where and when. New York was a big city with lots of people so it was a little miracle if you met the same person several times - unless they worked at a place you frequented a lot. Even though she hadn’t been at the diner lately, she did remember the woman vaguely. “You’re sure it’s her?”

Nodding Clint took out his phone to show her the picture he had taken. There was no mistake, it was the same woman from the picture she had gotten from Jarvis.

“Did you talk to her?”

“No. She was talking with a friend”, Clint began to tell Natasha about what they had heard. That she wanted to see her brother but he was in a meeting and thus didn’t have time. That she wasn’t sure if it was the truth or if he just didn’t want to see her because he was angry at her. They mentioned that Tony’s father must have had an affair with her mother at some point. Which was strange because as far as they knew Tony’s parents never got divorced and neither did his illegitimate daughter make it on the news during all this time, so it left them to wonder if Tony’s mother even knew about another child. Tony sure did.

Steve sat down in a chair looking at Natasha who seemed to be in thought about what Clint had just told her. “What did Tony tell you?”, he was curious about that. 

“Nothing much. He did admit that he has a sister, I didn’t confirm with him if it’s her”, she tapped on the picture. “But given on what we know thanks to you I have no doubts about it. He said that he doesn’t want to have contact with her and that he doesn’t care if I look for her so they can talk it out. If you ask me I feel like he’s lying to himself. He believes she’s just here because he and we as well are on the news because of the recent events.”

“Basking in the glory of superheroes?”, Clint raised an eyebrow not believing what he was just hearing. “From what we heard I really doubt that’s the reason.”

“So this is a group discussion now?”, Tony had left his office in order to get something to drink. He had enough problems already. The fight against an army of aliens had left its toll on him, often resulting in sleepless nights. He wanted to forget but that was easier said than done. Everyone else seemed to do just fine. He blamed it on what he had seen. Even if he tried to explain it he was sure the others wouldn’t understand. The last thing he needed was to worry about his sister on top of that. As far as he knew she was doing quite well. 

Despite telling Natasha that he didn’t care he actually did. Up until a few years ago, he had sent a private detective after her. That’s how he knew she traveled with her mother. Sometimes he envied her because of that. He couldn’t just go and travel around the world as he pleased. Of course, sometimes he did but he was often recognized by people. That didn’t leave much time for sightseeing or relaxing at the pool. Not that he did mind. He loved the attention. It was part of his world but there were also a lot of things he had to take care of. Both when he was home and when he was somewhere else. 

On the other hand, even while seeing the world had something appealing about it, he assumed that traveling around your whole life could have a lot of negative consequences as well. Never being in the same place, your home, for a long time meant that it was hard to find friends or stay in contact with them. It probably was even harder when you were at an age where you would normally attend school and spend time with your friends afterward. 

He could well remember that time. It was fun and sometimes he missed not being worried about all the things that were happening around him. Especially before his life had changed after his parents passed.

Stepping closer to the table he, just as the other three before him, took a look at the picture.

Shoulder length black hair that had slight waves, blue-grey eyes. Her skin appeared to have a light tan. Wherever she was before she came to New York definitely had more sunshine. She looked a lot like her mother. He could remember the woman since he had met her several years ago when he was still little. She was a nice woman. It was strange to think that she had had an affair with his father. Of course, he would later say that it was just one night they had spent together. After the pregnancy was confirmed Tony’s father made sure both, mother and child, were taken care of. That included money and making sure no one would find out. In fact, the only people to know about the child were Tony’s parents, Mary’s mother obviously and himself.

It was the best decision they could make to not cause anyone problems.

No one had asked Mary though. Not that it was possible to ask a baby.

When her first letter arrived Tony knew that she wanted to get to know the rest of the family. At that point it was only him, his parents had already passed. She seemed so eager to talk to him. The woman in the picture looked uncertain. Worry written in her eyes.

Tony wondered what had happened to her since he called back the detective.

Natasha, Clint, and Steve watched Tony as he looked at the picture. He didn’t say anything, his eyes narrowed in thought. A time span of maybe two minutes suddenly felt like an hour. It was Natasha who made the first move.

“Is she your sister?”

“Yes”, he gave a short nod. “No doubt about it.”

“We know where she works if you want to..”

“No”, Tony interrupted Clint before he could finish his sentence. “It’s for the best if we don’t meet. Natasha”, he turned to her. “Forget what I said earlier. I don’t want you to check on her anymore.” With that, he went to get something to drink just like he had originally intended before making his way back to the elevator. It’s doors opened before he reached it with Bruce stepping out and to the side as Tony rushed past him.

The doors of the elevator were barely closed when Bruce looked at the others. “Something wrong with him?”

“You better sit down.”

~*~

Several days had passed since Mary had tried to contact Tony.

It was Tuesday, the first day of work for this week. Since Valerie and her had met for a movie night at her place she had used her free day yesterday to clean up. 

Giving Valerie permission to choose the movies hadn’t been the best idea. She liked scary movies, though given that it was basically all that she watched, they weren’t scary to her anymore. And so Mary had to sit through ‘Paranormal Activity’. To her surprise, it wasn’t as scary as she had imagined it to be and most of the time Valerie and her were talking instead of paying attention to the movie anyway. The night ended with both of them falling asleep on the couch and Mary waking up to the smell of coffee as Valerie was an early bird. Plus she had to work on Mondays so there was no sleeping in for her.

Sometimes Mary wondered how Valerie managed to be in a good mood so early in the day, plus actually being awake, since the woman tended to stay up late every day.

There was a high chance it was thanks to all the coffee Valerie drank during the day. To her, it was like water.

Mary smiled to herself thinking about it. Right now she had enough time to think about a lot of things. Valerie’s coffee consumption was one of those. The weekend, the movie night, it had felt good. She wished they had more time for that but work kept getting in the way. Lately, they didn’t even manage to see each other here because of their different schedules. It felt a little like the only person Mary did consider to be a good friend was slipping away slowly. Maybe, if it was possible, she could take a few days off so Valerie and her would manage to meet and spend some time together.

Especially now. It would be a lie for Mary to say she didn’t think about Tony or going to try to talk to him again. Was it possible to miss someone even if you never met the person before? Because that was what she was feeling. She missed Tony. She missed having a family.

Pushing the thought to the back of her mind and focusing back on work Mary looked around in the diner.

It had been busy earlier this day with Mary barely managing to get a break to drink something or just to breathe for a moment. Richard, the cook who was here this morning, had it even worse to finish the food for the same tables at the same time. Whenever Mary managed she went to help him out. Luckily enough the customers usually were nice and patient on top of that.

By now things had calmed down and Brian was here to take over when Mary went home. Which wasn’t too long anymore. A quick look at the nearest clock told her that she had just half an hour until she could leave. She was thinking about staying to eat something. Richard’s relief should be here soon as well. There was also a new guy who helped every once in a while. He lived close by and apparently was the boss's nephew. Andrew or so. To this day Mary hadn’t really talked to him. Most of the time she worked in the morning hours while he had late shifts. Andrew was 22, preferred to stay up late and go to parties. Unlike Valerie who managed to be awake despite her strange sleeping pattern, Andrew wasn’t a morning person. At all.

Brian and Mary went through what he needed to know.

There were a few customers she had served up until now but didn’t look like they would leave anytime soon. So Brian would continue looking for them. It was just a handful of people around right now. He wouldn’t have as much stress as Mary this morning. Though, who knew. The chances were high that more people came by during the later hours of the day. At least Brian would have help thanks to Andrew. Once he would arrive.

Drying off a few glasses during the last few minutes of her shift, Brian was taking a newly arrived groups order, she looked up when the bell at the door announced even more people.

Her eyes rested on the person for a brief moment before turning her attention back to the glass she had in her hands. A woman, maybe around the same age as her, dressed in simple clothes. Maybe a bit too simple. Dark jeans, white shirt, and a black hoodie. The most prominent about her was her hair. Bright red.

Mary recognized her. She had been here before but with someone else tagging along. She was alone today and when she made a straight line towards the counter and more importantly towards her, Mary felt like the diner wasn’t the only place she had seen the redhead.

“You’re Mary right?”

Straight to the point.

“Yes. I don’t think we know each other”, Mary gave her a questioning look. The answer she received wasn’t what she expected. And it confirmed that she had seen the other woman somewhere else within the last couple of months. Where exactly was something she would remember later on.

“Well, I know you. You’re finishing with work now I believe. I’m here to pick up. The name’s Natasha Romanoff by the way, Tony sent me”, the look on Mary’s face was enough to tell Natasha that she was surprised and maybe also a bit skeptical. “I know it may appear strange to you. I’m not entirely okay with it either because I believe Tony should be here instead of me.”

“Then why isn’t he?”, Mary asked not bothering to question how this woman knew her brother.

Natasha let out a small sigh. “He.. has doubts. About you two meeting”, she paused for a few seconds so Mary had time to process the words. “He didn’t want to see you. Actually, the day you were at the tower, he first denied having a sister. He admitted it later but still refrained from wanting to see you. Tony changed his mind a lot about this during the last days. I don’t know why but before he decides against it once again, I thought about taking you to him so he can’t back out.”

That were quite a few pieces of information. The worst about this was that Mary had come to the conclusion to stay away from Tony to give herself time to think. Not for all eternity but longer than what? Five days or so. It appeared strange that he had changed his opinion within a few days given that he hadn’t done that since she wrote the first letter all those years ago. Mary felt her knees getting weak and her hands started to tremble. She had to put down the glass in her hands before she would drop it to the ground.

Why was she afraid all of sudden?

Why wasn’t she happy? At least a tiny bit.

Looking at Mary Natasha could tell that she was overwhelmed with all of this. It appeared as if Mary hadn’t expected Tony coming to meet her. Or not coming since she was here now. Natasha intended to take her to him though. They would meet. Today. She wasn’t letting anything getting between that meeting.

Yes. Tony had changed his mind about meeting with his sister a lot during the past days. Often within minutes. One moment he would say that he wanted to meet her, leave the room and then come back a minute later to say that he changed his mind. It felt as if he was afraid of something. Seeing her? Speaking to her? Natasha knew only little about what had happened in the past. Tony had told her and the rest of his friends about his father’s affair. That he made sure the only people knowing about Mary were himself, his wife, Mary’s mother, and Tony. 

Apparently, Howard had hoped his two kids would meet one day. Become a family. He left it to his children to decide on that. 

While Mary, at one point, did want to talk to him, Tony never returned that sentiment.

His parents had just passed when she began writing to him. Maybe because of what happened. Who could tell? In fact, he read the first letter because he was curious and Mary told him that he could always call her if he needed to talk to someone. She told him she was sorry for his loss. Her words genuine unlike those of other people who said their condolences.

There were times where he almost called her.

Bruce had been the one to ask him why he didn’t. Tony didn’t have an answer for that but some of them had an idea that he was actually scared.

Mary was a ghost from the past. A past he wanted to forget. Sometimes it took people a while until they were ready to face said past. For Tony, that moment seemed to have arrived and Natasha wanted to do everything she could so the two would get together and talk. Of course, she had thought about what Tony had said. That Mary only came here because he was now a superhero and wanted to grab some of the fame. Thanks to Clint and Steve eavesdropping on Mary and her friend by accident, it was clear for Natasha that this wasn’t the reason.

“You know, I believe that Tony does love you but he doesn’t know how to show it. There have been a lot of things happening recently. I guess you’re aware of what happened?”

“I guess you’re talking about the alien invasion in New York?”, Mary chuckled. Her knees still felt like they would give out any time, but the feeling of joy, of meeting her brother began to rise within her. It made her feel like a child on Christmas. “I know. At least what was shown on TV. There’s probably a lot more to it than that.”

Natasha nodded in silence. That was true. “His doubts about meeting with you might stem from the fact that he believes that’s why you’re here”. She left out the part where Tony said he believed she was here because of who he was. Because of who his friends were and that Mary wanted a piece of the cake.

“Well”, that was true to some extent. Of course, she was here because of the news. She had watched her brother fly through the sky. A missile on his back. And then he had vanished into some kind of portal. The very same the aliens came from. He had seen what was on the other side and, given on what Mary had seen, almost didn’t make it back to earth. “I guess that’s true in a way. I’m sorry but I want to talk about that with Tony myself. I do appreciate you coming here but..”

“You don’t know me, I get that. But I want to help”, she leaned against the counter, a smile on her lips. “I’m on your side here. What do you have to lose? You came here to see him right? This is your chance.”

Natasha was right about that. 

Mary had to acknowledge that this might be her best chance to talk to Tony. If he indeed did change his mind that often.. who knew when she would have another chance. Aside from that: he apparently had some great friends. Natasha didn’t need to come here in the first place. Something made her though and Mary appreciated that. How could she let that chance slip away now?

~*~

The elevator ride was over faster than Mary liked it.

This was some weird elevator for sure. Others did take hours to arrive at the floor you were on and only to then take another hour before you would reach your destination. This one, she loathed it. 

Natasha noticed the change in Mary’s demeanor. The closer they had gotten to the tower the more prominent it became and now it was at the worst point. There were a few moments where she thought Mary would bail. When she noticed, Natasha would stand a little closer and put a hand on the other woman's shoulder until she had calmed down again. There were no words spoken between them. Until now.

“Will you stay with us? In case things go south?”

“You think that’ll happen?”

“Not sure”, Mary shrugged. “I’m looking forward to seeing him. I have for a long time but.. the closer I get the more I start to worry.”

“Don’t. It’ll be fine. I’ll be there, so will be others. If Tony starts to behave like an asshole we’ll put him back into place.” 

A light smile spread on Mary’s lips and she mumbled a ‘thank you’. The next thing she knew was the elevator arriving at the designated floor. The doors opened with a slight whir and Natasha was the first one to step out. The room behind the now open doors was large. Her apartment could fit in here several times. It seemed insane. Even from the outside, the tower was looking huge and it made her wonder what Tony needed all that space for? Taking in her surroundings while stepping into the room and next to Natasha, Mary now noticed that there were three more people in here.

They were all sitting on a large couch in what appeared to be the living area. There were some debris and boxes around. A reminder of the fight. Just like some buildings she was seeing every day on her way through the city which were still hidden behind scaffolds. As she and Natasha walked closer to the three men, they stood up.

Steve was the first to walk towards her. He was also the only one Mary knew, besides Tony obviously. He had been over the news a lot. The man who had woken up from a very long sleep in the ice. 

Extending his hand he smiled at her. “Steve Rogers, welcome to the Avengers tower. Excuse the mess.”

“It’s not a problem”, she took his hand. “I’m Mary Patterson.”

There was an awkward silence between them. For Mary, it was weird because she was now meeting people who were all over the news because of recent events. By now she had realized that that was the other place where she had seen Natasha aside from the diner. They were people who, at least it seemed that way to her, knew more about her brother than she did. Since Mary knew what had happened to Steve, she also knew that at one point he had met her father. It was strange to think about that. Maybe she could ask him about her father, what he was like. Going by the simple fact of how welcoming Steve was, contrary to her brother by ignoring her, it appeared to be a lot easier to talk to him.

Getting up Clint walked to the two of them. “Before this ends in complete silence, my name is Clint Barton. Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise”, Mary studied him for a moment. Just like with Natasha earlier she had the nagging feeling that she had seen him in person before. Maybe at the diner alongside Natasha. And indeed, as if Clint had the feeling a question like that hung in the air, he told her that they had been to the place before. Also that he and Steve had been there last week and heard her talk to Valerie. Which kind of set things in motion.

The last man in the round introduced himself as Bruce Banner before mentioning that he would go and get Tony. From what Mary got he was ‘hiding’ away in his lab. Didn’t sound like he was eager on meeting her so she guessed right now he was in the ‘I don’t want to meet my sister’ mood. There was a moment, maybe a minute or so, where Mary was ready to tell the others that she would leave. The fact that Clint told her to sit down, Natasha sitting right next to her and Steve getting her something to drink kept her from that.

She thanked Steve for the water he handed her before he sat down as well. 

“So.. you’re really his sister?”

Mary nodded. “Must be weird for you. I mean, being here is weird for me too. I don’t know any of you and yet you’re all super nice to me. Well actually”, she turned towards Steve who had asked the question. “I’ve read a few things about you and I know that at one point you met Tony’s and my father.”

“That has been a long time ago, but yes I did”, Steve couldn’t help but smile. It felt like yesterday to him when he had last seen Howard. It would be a lie if he said he didn’t miss him. And not only Howard but also Peggy and Bucky. Made him wonder if it would have been better if he had never been found in the ice. 

“Please don’t be like dad and continuously talk about Capsicle here.”

Tension gripped her body. As Mary turned her head to look into the direction she heard Tony’s voice come from, she felt as if the room became incredibly tiny. Tony stood next to Bruce who, after a moment of considering his options, walked towards the couch to take a seat. He waited before he sat down, however, looking back at Tony who didn’t move a muscle. 

“Now, what do you want?”


	4. The One with the Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another 'quick' chapter. Had this one mostly finished so I decided to upload it today as well.

His voice was cold and his eyes showed something that Mary would almost call hate but there was something else as well. Something she couldn’t exactly name.

Standing up Mary mustered a smile. “Hey.” There was no reaction from Tony. She should’ve expected it. Though a part of her had hoped that he would be happy to see her, that one small voice in the back of her head was too loud and drowned out that hope. Always telling her that Tony didn't want to see her. That he hated her. Trying to ignore the voice as best as she possibly could, Mary took a few steps forward causing Natasha and Steve to stand up as well. “How are you?”

Was she seriously starting with small talk now?

Tony didn’t feel like talking to her. Yesterday evening he did. He remembered how he told the others that he wanted to see Mary. He had been drinking. Today this was different. And yet, seeing her here made him strangely happy. Knowing that she was okay put him at ease. He could clearly see the hesitation in her posture and could hear it in her voice. She had no idea how to talk to him, he didn’t know how to talk to her either. Siblings were supposed to be close right? This was the first time they had stood in front of each other. There was no closeness at all.

“I’m fine”, he took a few steps into the room but turned to walk into a different direction. Away from her. He didn’t want her to get close to him. He could barely take care of himself, he didn’t need someone else in the mix. “You haven’t answered my question yet. Why are you here?”

“Tony”, Bruce gave him a look that said ‘behave yourself’. 

“I’m just curious. It seems weird to me that she decides to come by now.”

She remembered Natasha making a similar comment. That Tony believed she was here because of what she had seen on TV. The alien attack, him fighting to help people. Why was he bothered by that so much? “You’re aware I wrote you letters in the past and you didn’t care about those right? Didn’t seem like you wanted to talk to me”, her expression had changed to a more stern one.

“That’s right, I didn’t. And now you’re here saying ‘hello’ to your brother, coming here at a convenient time for you to meet some.. superheroes”, he pointed towards him and the others when he said that. 

So that’s how things were. “You think that’s why I’m here?”, Mary didn’t wait for Tony to answer. “Because you turn out to be a hero? Don’t you think I would’ve come here back when you told the world you’re Iron Man then? I’m not here because of that and neither has that been my reason to meet you. You’re my brother. Whether you like it or not. For a long time, I wanted nothing more than to talk to you. Then I came to the realization that it would never happen. It’s why I stopped writing to you”, Mary took several steps into his direction before she stopped and began to play with the hem of the shirt she was wearing. “I figured you didn’t need me to be around so I didn’t want to be around you either.”

Tony sighed. Mary was right. If she really only wanted to get into the center of attention, to get some fame or whatever, she would’ve come here earlier. “You seemed to be pretty good of too.” 

Mary gave him a questioning look.

“I sent a private detective after you.”

Everyone in the room was surprised about that.

“You sent someone after your sister?”

Tony looked at Bruce for a moment and nodded. “Yes, I did. I’m not proud of it but I.. I wanted to know how you were doing”, his attention was back on Mary. “I know you and your mother have been traveling. South America, Europe, Asia. I got pictures once in a while. You seemed like you enjoyed it and didn’t need me.”

“What makes you say that?”, Mary moved even closer to Tony. Her eyes focused on his face, his expression. “When was the last time you checked on me?”

“A few years ago.”

A scoff could be heard. “So you have really no idea why I’m here”, Mary walked back to the couch and sat down. For a while no one said anything. Natasha had taken the seat next to Mary again, Steve and Tony remained standing. Bruce was ready to get up too if there was the need for it, for now, he remained sitting, his eyes on Tony. Clint had moved in his spot a little. His eyes darting between Tony and Mary. Both their moods had changed. Mary suddenly went quiet. She had clearly been angry before but now, realizing that Tony apparently had missed out on something important, her anger had subsided. Maybe just for a moment, who knew.

Tony slowly made his way over to the couch. He didn’t say anything as he sat down on a chair opposite of where Mary sat. His eyes fixed on her. For the first time since they had found out Tony had a sister, he looked worried. For the past days and even a few moments earlier he sounded more like he never wanted to see her in person. Now he appeared to be interested in the reason she came here. Interested in what had happened to her.

“Mum died.”

Silence hung in the air.

Everyone in this room knew loss. Some managed to deal with it better than others. To which group Mary belonged wasn’t clear to them. She seemed pretty collected talking about it. At least at this moment.

Tony had no idea. When he had stopped looking after her, or rather sending someone after her, she had just turned 20. That was seven years ago. After that, he had no idea what Mary had experienced or done. He didn’t receive any notice about the death so either Mary never wrote him about it or he didn’t get it. Whatever it was, it wasn’t important now. He had lost his parents years ago. Mary had lost her father, a father she had never met but even then she still had her mother. And now?

Who had been there for her?

He knew there was another woman who lived in the same house in San Francisco with Mary and her mother if they weren’t traveling. Annette he believed was the name. She and Mary’s mother were friends and moved together when they had been younger. From what little Tony knew Annette was from Germany, though her parents and she moved to America when she was barely 4 years old. He couldn’t admit that he knew about her or maybe Mary was aware that he did. He had just admitted that he had someone to follow her after all.

But Annette supposedly was the only one at Mary’s side. He didn’t know if she had any friends or if she did, what kind of people they were. So right now, in his mind, she was alone when she had to deal with the loss of her mother. 

He had left her alone while she, after his parents died, reached out for him.

“I’m sorry to hear that. If I had known..”

“Then what? You would’ve called me?”, shaking her head Mary looked at her feet. “You wanted to know why I’m here: Mum died eight months ago. I thought I could go back to my old life. Travel like we used to do. So I took her camera and for a while, I did just that but it didn’t feel the same. Then, after a few weeks, I overheard people talking about aliens in New York and when checked on TV what was happening the first thing I see is you. Flying through a portal in the sky with a missile on your back. I thought you were going to die”, she looked at him. She could feel tears in her eyes. “I know how weird it might be; we never met, never talked but you’re the only family I have left.”

She went silent after that. Maybe it was too much information right now but she needed to say it. If Tony believed that she was here because of a reason that wasn’t true she at least wanted to clarify it. And that was all she wanted for now.

“What happened to her?”

Tony was seriously interested in what had happened. It was hard for him to admit it and there was a high chance he wouldn’t say these words out loud. He did need to know what was going in Mary’s life. Or had been going on. Would things have been different if he had been with her? Maybe. Her mother hadn’t been old so he figured that either it was an accident like with his parents or that she had been sick. 

The later was the right guess.

“She had cancer. There was a point where no medicine or chemo would help anymore. We both knew what would happen though it didn’t make things easier”, Mary tried to keep her composure. Yes, it had been eight months since then but it still hurt to think about her mother, to think about what they had been through. She had quit her job to stay with her mother, cherish the time they still had together. “She just.. fell asleep. I can’t imagine the pain she went through until then. As strange as it may sound, she seemed happy in the last moments before. I wasn’t sure what to do afterward. So like I said, I tried to go back to my old life but I failed at that obviously.”

“You were worried about Tony”, Steve noticed. By now he had sat back down too.

Mary nodded in agreement. “Yes.” 

She had no idea why she was telling them about it. It was something she didn’t like to talk about and it was something that was between Tony and her. She didn’t know any of them long enough to just start talking like that but something made her. Maybe the fear of not being able to do so again. Tony appeared to trust those people so Mary felt like she could too. Maybe that was another reason for talking so freely. 

“You shouldn’t worry about me”, Tony’s voice literally pulled her back to earth.

“Kinda hard not to do that given that you’re my brother and it’s something natural to do so.”

“I might be your brother but hearing you talk about what happened I have to say I’m more of an idiot.”

“Yeah, you are”, a sad smile appeared on her lips. Being reminded of those events Mary decided for herself that it was better to leave. She was glad she was able to tell Tony but she wasn’t sure if he wanted to take things further. Mary sure didn’t feel ready for that right now. There was also the fact his friends were here. Maybe he wouldn’t have talked to her if it weren’t for them but everything else was something between Tony and her.

“I’m sorry”, wiping away the tears before they could fall, she looked at Natasha. “I’d like to leave now.”

“Of course”, Natasha stood up, her eyes moving towards Tony. He didn’t say anything. Instead, he nodded, a sign for her that it was okay. 

He honestly didn’t know what else to do or say. Maybe it was better to let his sister go for now so both of them could order their thoughts. Give them time. And so he watched as Natasha and Mary walked over to the elevator.

Before Mary stepped inside she looked at Tony one last time. “You probably know where to find me. I won’t leave the city or the country in the next months so whenever you’re ready to talk you’re welcome,” she looked at the three other men. “It was nice to meet you.”

And then she stepped into the elevator along with Natasha.

“Well”, Clint looked at Tony after the doors to the elevator closed. “There you have your reason. She even said it, she was worried about losing you. Don’t say it isn’t so.”

“I’m not, I just.. it’s hard to believe she would care given the way I acted all those years.”

“Like an idiot you mean?”, Bruce raised his hands when Tony gave him a stare. “Hey, you said it yourself.”

Only because it was true didn’t mean that his friends had to agree with that.

Right now Tony felt like he had let a big chance of talking to Mary slip away. Of course, she had told him that he could come by and talk but just now, a few moments earlier, she had opened up to him. She had let him be a part of her life. It was thanks to his friends who had done everything to make this happen. It was time to let go of the past, or in this case let the past catch up with him. He still had a family. Not just the one he choose with people like Pepper, but also a real family. Bound by blood.

Up until now, it was always Mary who had come to him. The letters in the past, now she was here. And all the time he had pushed her away only to realize that maybe it was the wrong thing to do. Both of them had experienced things they surely wanted to forget. He couldn’t talk about it with his friends but maybe he could do so with her. The only thing standing between the two of them was his own ego. Because he had to admit that he had a problem. That he needed help.

That he needed his sister.

~*~

Two weeks had passed since Mary was taken to Tony.

She hadn’t talked to him since then. For her, it wasn’t a surprise. She herself didn’t want to talk. The bit she had told him was enough to send her back in time to the day her mother had died and it was hard to deal with that. Maybe Tony was reminded of his parents' death. While it had been a long time for him since it happened, Mary believed that even with the years it didn’t make you forget. The pain would remain but so would be the memories.

She wondered if that was all they were: half-siblings without parents who weren’t able to talk to each other.

It made Mary feel weird. 

Yes, there were families who strayed away from each other but she didn’t want to be like that. She wanted Tony to be a part of her life and be a part of his but right now.. she didn’t feel it. She wasn’t herself since the meeting and that was something even Valerie noticed.

Mary was sitting in a back room of the diner. She had needed a break. There wasn’t an awful lot to do right now and Valerie, noticing something was wrong, had sent her away telling Mary to get something to drink and maybe some food. It would help her is what she had said. Only because it helped Valerie when she drank coffee or had a snack didn’t mean that applied to others as well. It certainly didn’t apply to Mary. Nevertheless, she decided to drink something and grab some of the fruits from a bowl that stood on the table.

Meanwhile, Valerie was taking care of the customers. Thanks to her experience with the job she had learned how to manage even the busiest days. Of course, a lot of unexpected things could happen but not here in this small place. At least that’s what Valerie wanted to believe. Could it get any weirder than aliens? She had been here during the attack. The realization that they weren’t alone in the universe made her feel weird. Good thing they had people to protect them. 

People like Tony Stark who just happened to enter the diner.

Valerie was the first to see him. The sunglasses he was wearing didn’t help to hide him and some other people, both inside and out on the street seemed to notice him. Some began to take pictures, talking to each other in whispers. 

Pushing away the impulse to take a picture as well, it wasn’t an everyday thing to have Tony Stark around, Valerie waited a few moments as the man sat down and began to study the menu. Valerie served another table first as the ordered food was ready but kept an eye on Tony. When she felt like he was ready and had chosen what he wanted to eat, she walked over to him.

“Hello, have you decided on what you want to order?”

“Ah yes”, he put the menu away and looked at the woman. Natasha and Clint as well had told him about her. Valerie was her name. She and Mary seemed to be good friends and the first impression he had of her was a positive one. It gave him a relieving feeling to know Mary had someone in this city who was there for her unlike him. Since Natasha had brought Mary to the tower and she had told him about her mother's death, Tony began to acknowledge it was better to talk things out. “I could need some breakfast. Surprise me”, he smiled. “Also, a cup of coffee for me and food and drink of choice for Mary. Along with Mary, of course, I’d like to talk to her.”

For a moment Valerie was sure she was looking like a fish out of water. Why did Tony Stark want to talk to Mary? Why did he even know her name? She tried to compose herself before giving a quick nod. “Of course”, and with that she made her way to the kitchen and from there to the backroom.

She basically busted through the door causing Mary to jump as it collided with the wall causing a loud bang that, for sure, could be heard throughout the whole diner.

“Jesus, Valerie! What’s going on?”

“You tell me”, Valerie put her hands on the table Mary sat at and leaned down. “Tony Stark just walked in and requested your presence.”

“Excuse me?”

“He asked for you. How does he know you? Or how do you know him? Whatever the better question would be.”

“You’re kidding me.”

“I’m not. He’s sitting at a table ordered food and drinks for both of you and now he’s waiting for you”, Valerie moved to sit down next to Mary, eyes locked with her friends. “Are you in trouble?”

“What? No,” she hadn’t expected Tony to show up here. To her, it meant that he wanted to talk, which was a good thing in general, but if she was honest she had thought he would send someone to pick her up again. She couldn’t deny that she was happy about it though. He made the effort to come to her. After all those years of her taking the first step, he reversed the roles now. There was no way she could ignore it. And so Mary got up and walked past Valerie who had no idea what was happening. “Sorry, I gotta go.”

She was aware that Valerie wanted to know what was going on. Why Tony knew Mary and the other way around. Eventually, Mary would have to tell her. Not because she couldn’t keep this a secret forever - especially now knowing there were people outside this room who would see them together - but also because Valerie was a friend. The only friend she had if she was honest. How could she continue to lie to her?

It didn’t take Mary long to spot Tony when she walked into the main room of the diner. Mostly because he wasn’t hiding and people were taking pictures. There was a young man who was slowly creeping up towards Tony. When he reached the table Tony was at he handed him a paper and said something. Mary watched as Tony began writing something on the paper before handing it back, the young man began to smile and then walked away again.

As Mary began walking towards Tony’s table she noticed a woman at the other end of the diner getting up, her focus clearly on Tony. She was sitting at a table with two friends of hers, at least that’s what Mary presumed. She had served them earlier, before Valerie took over and sent her away to take a break. Completely ignoring the woman Mary walked towards Tony and sat at the opposite side of him. She had arrived just a few steps before the other woman who was now glaring daggers at her.

“Took you a while to get here”, Tony smiled. “Were you hiding?”

“I was taking a break. Took you a while to get here too, though I gotta admit I expected Natasha to come here like before. Kind of surprised she didn’t tell me about you coming here.”

“Why would she tell you?”

“Because she gave me her number and we’ve been in contact”, she moved in a comfortable position. Her eyes briefly taking in her surroundings. The woman was returning to her seat. A few other people were looking towards her and Tony but turned away when she spotted them. Tony had taken a seat at a table with no one else around so no one would be able to hear what they were talking about. Unless they would be loud. Not that she expected Tony telling her the story of his life in an open place like this. “It’s not.. I don’t know. It’s a strange feeling to be sitting at the same table with you. Last time you kept your distance.”

“The table isn’t that big, to be honest.”

“So you want me to go?”

“No, that’s not what I meant. Listen, the past weeks haven’t been easy. For either one of us though for different reasons. I don’t know what exactly happened with your mother before.. well”, he didn’t continue the sentence. No doubt Mary knew that he meant before her mother had died. “And you don’t know what happened during the battle. The fact that I pushed you away when you came to me a few days ago isn’t because I don’t want to see you or to get to know you for that matter. I simply don’t want to drag you into this.. thing”, he looked at Mary to see her reaction. When nothing came from her side he continued. “Since I took over the company, since I became Iron Man, a lot of things happened. A lot of bad things. Like I told you before, it seemed that you were doing fine so I decided to leave it at that.”

“Sounds like you wanted to protect me in a way I guess.”

He agreed on that. Maybe it was the wrong way but pushing her further away seemed to be the best way to make sure no one would harm her. He was aware that coming here would put the focus on her and she was probably aware of that too. People were already looking at them and taking pictures. He was used to it, Mary definitely not but she didn’t appear to be bothered by it so far. That might change over time. Tony knew that he had to tell others who Mary was eventually. He could see how pictures of this moment were already on social media having people wonder about the woman he was with. 

He hoped Pepper wouldn’t get a wrong impression of this. He needed to call and tell her as soon as possible. Not only that, he wanted her to meet Mary.

“Listen, fact is I don’t know how you are holding up with your mother’s death. I know the death of my parents, our father, wasn’t easy to deal with and now..”, he leaned over the table, his voice becoming lower. “I’ve seen things when I was on the other side of the portal. Things I can’t describe even if I tried to and I’m... I’m not sure what to do with that knowledge if you want to call it that. Things aren’t easy for me at the moment and I’m not sure what to do about it.”

Admitting that felt good and it made him feel vulnerable at the same time. There was this sense of trust between him and Mary. Which was strange as it shouldn’t be that way. There should have been some kind of distance between them and there actually was. He had felt it at the tower but not at this moment. She had put her trust into him too when she talked about the death of her mother. Tony could tell their relationship was slowly changing. Well, slowly might have been the wrong word, it appeared to be rather fast changing.

He was aware he had to thank his friends, more importantly Natasha for that. Thinking about it he wondered if it was his right to call them friends given how they had disagreed very strongly about being a team hours before New York was attacked. He wanted to believe they were friends.

“If you don’t want to talk about it it’s okay. I don’t want to push you to do so. We have time”, on top of that Mary felt like this was the wrong place to talk about this.

Before either of them could continue Valerie appeared with two cups of coffee and two plates of food. Setting them down she gave a smile to Mary and then turned to Tony giving him a nod. “I don’t know what’s going on between you two but you better not keep her from work too long.”

“I’ll try to.”

“Thanks Val”, Mary smiled at her friend and watched as she went back to work. As she turned to look at the food the smile became wider. While Tony’s plate consisted out of bacon, eggs and toast for the most part, hers was a colorful mix of waffles and fruits. 

“Yours looks better than mine, I kinda wanna switch.”

“We can share.”

“Like siblings?”

Mary shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. You weren’t around. I wished you were though. But that’s part of the reason I’m here”, she began eating and Tony did the same. “It seemed like you thought I only came here because of you being Iron Man and because of your superhero friends and I told you that’s not why. I’m not interested in the fact you’re Iron Man. That’s not important to me. You’re my brother. I want to be able to call you on your birthday, Christmas, whenever I feel the need to talk to you. I wanna know all the stupid things I should know if we had been raised together.”

“‘All the stupid things’ seems like a rather big spectrum don’t you think?”

“Probably, but wanting to know your favorite food, music, and color seems stupid.”

“I agree.”

Those were stupid things. Tony had to admit that it were things siblings would know about each other though. The fact that Mary wanted to know made him happy. He really had been wrong about her intentions all along. They spoke for a long time. Longer than either of them anticipated, Valerie included who wasn’t too happy. At one point Mary excused herself because she needed to go back to work and Tony decided to wait for her to finish so he could take her home and maybe talk some more.

There were a lot of things he wanted to talk about. He had just briefly mentioned the fight because he didn’t want to get into too many details but maybe he had to. At one point. He had to tell Pepper too. She was always there for him and so it should have been a given to tell her about his problems. Maybe he couldn’t because they were too close. Maybe he could tell Mary. 

When she went back to work it didn’t take long for other people to ask for an autograph or photo. 

Mary was surprised to see how normal it all seemed for Tony or maybe not.

He was smiling the whole time, signing whatever items the people would give him. Some were in their thirties, some way older than him, others were little kids. Tony treated each of them equally. Mary didn’t doubt that he was happy about it but when he talked to her he didn’t smile. Not like that. He had mentioned that he had seen things on the other side of the portal. She couldn’t imagine what and a part of her didn’t want to.

One thing was clear: he was putting up a facade and she knew from personal experience that at one point that facade would crumble.


	5. The One where Tony tells the Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who left a review or kudos! I appreciate it a lot and it makes me happy to know you enjoy this story.

Over the next weeks, Mary and Tony met whenever they had the time to do so. 

It felt good. Being together, sharing memories. 

Tony had come to Mary’s place a few times and he was a little shocked about the fact that her apartment was so small. He had grown up under different circumstances. His homes were big, this was tiny. Mary mentioned that she wasn’t a billionaire like him and that she liked this place. It was enough for her and it held a lot of trinkets she had bought while traveling. 

It was basically a little museum.

Seeing all the souvenirs from the different places Mary and her mother had been brought a smile to Tony’s lips. Even more so when they began looking at old pictures she had brought to New York as well.

There were pictures of Mary and her mother and he couldn’t deny how much Mary looked like her when he saw them side by side. Sometimes there were other people on the pictures with them. No doubts people they had met on their travels. A lot of pictures showed the environment. Beaches, forests, buildings old and new. Her mother had a great eye. No wonder though given that she had been a photographer since basically forever. It was how she had met Howard. She had taken pictures for him of his work. They were completely different from what he was seeing in those picture books Mary had on her shelves.

At one point he asked if Mary ever thought of sharing them in a book with the public as he was sure a lot of people would enjoy them. He surely did. Mary, while generally being fond of the idea, mentioned that it would feel wrong. After all the pictures weren’t hers. If Tony would like to have a book like this she offered to make him one. Maybe add some pictures of his childhood and leave free pages for the future so they could say they own a family photo album. 

But not everything was nice.

Sometimes they would argue. One time it would be because of something trivial like the fact that Mary thought Tony wasn’t eating enough or regularly enough in her opinion. And other times it would be about the past. About Tony ignoring Mary for so long. That they could’ve been at this point years ago if he had trusted her enough to answer the letters. Tony would then go on about how, looking back at everything that had happened, it was better this way. He would have put her in unnecessary danger.

Danger she was in right now anyway. What difference would several years have made? 

For Tony, it would have made a lot of a difference. He was already worrying about Pepper enough. Not having Mary in his life was easier but he knew that Mary didn’t see it that way. Stronger in numbers might apply to a lot of situations but he knew it only made him vulnerable.

And so he and Mary would start discussing things, ultimately ending with them shouting at each other for a while before eventually making up and laughing about their stupid behavior. 

Tony learned that it usually took a while until Mary would snap. She would rather endure an uncomfortable situation instead of calling the person who caused it out, which at this point was usually him. He did also learn how to tell what she considered to be such a situation. It became easy for him to tell when she was fed up with something and learned how to avoid pushing her to that point himself.

It was something he didn’t want to do, not intentionally.

Realizing he had gotten a new chance of having a family made him want to change. And he did. Thanks to Mary he began to see things differently and it was the same for her. They were changing each other. Slowly but steady.

Tony’s friends noticed it as well.

He wouldn’t lock himself up in his office or lab all the time. Instead, he would sit and talk with them when they were around, go to Mary’s place or invite her to the tower. That way they were able to talk to her as well. Of course, there were things they couldn’t talk about when it came to the fight or what they did for work.

And so it was mostly small talk. 

Mary was interested in how they all met, if they had known each other before the attack or not. If they had ever thought aliens would exist. Aliens, superheroes, all those were things you knew from movies. She acknowledged that there were a lot of people to believe in the supernatural, maybe more so now than ever before. There was no way to deny their existence anymore but it still was strange to think about it. Mary tried to push the thought to the back of her mind. 

There was no need to think about what was out there when there was enough down here on earth. For Mary, there was a lot of catching up to do. 

Aside from Tony, she found herself talking to Steve the most. It was easy talking to him and of course, she asked about her father. He had known him and during their talks, Steve said that her father had been a friend to him. It made her happy to hear that and she hoped that Tony was a friend to Steve as well - it did seem like they were. Though Mary was aware there were things he didn’t tell them which maybe, in the future, would cause problems.

Tony and her had met for dinner one day. She had invited him to her place, saying she would cook. 

It didn’t go as planned starting with the fact that Tony had stopped by her place after she just woke up. He said that he had nothing to do so he figured they could spend the whole day together. That of course meant that he decided to join her as she went to buy groceries. It was a special situation. Mary had made a plan for what to cook after making sure Tony wouldn’t get an allergic reaction. And so she moved through the store with a purpose. Tony, however, had his own plans.

One moment she didn’t pay attention and the next more stuff was in the shopping cart. 

Mary felt a little like she had become a mother overnight because Tony sure enjoyed this trip more than she did. While at first she had tried to put the things back on the shelves, she gave up soon. 

In the end, a shopping trip which would usually take her 30 minutes, took over an hour. Thanks to Tony wandering off, people seeing him and asking for pictures. At least that gave her enough time to gather the ingredients she wanted to get in the first place. Once they were finished, with Tony paying despite Mary’s attempt to keep him from it, they walked back to her home.

They weren’t far away from the apartment building when both of them, as well as other people on the street, were startled by a noise. It turned out to be some children playing. Dressed up as Iron Man, Captain America. They had fun, everyone could see it. But the noise and their shouting did something with Tony. His body didn’t seem to listen to him anymore. He dropped the bag he was holding. As it hit the ground a few of the groceries scattered on the sidewalk. His breath became short and his heart rate increased. Cold sweat formed on his forehead. He couldn’t move. He was too afraid just because of the sounds. Because they reminded him of the fight. Took him back behind the portal.

This was worse than the sleepless nights because he knew what to do then: go and tinker. 

What was he supposed to do now? Was there something he could do?

Mary had turned her attention to her brother the moment he dropped the bag. It didn’t take her long to realize something was wrong with him. He just stood there, staring into the distance, his face pale like a ghost.

“Tony?”, she shifted the bag she was carrying so she had one hand free to touch his. He was trembling. “Tony, hey. Look at me”, she moved her hand up to his cheek and stepped in front of him so he had no other choice but to look at her. As their eyes met she could see the panic in his eyes. Looking around she noticed a handful of people staring at them, she doubted that was helping Tony to deal with whatever was happening to him right now. “Come on, let’s move. We’re almost home, let’s just go inside the building okay?”

There was just the slightest nod from Tony as he felt himself being dragged a few more feet before he was eventually led inside the building. Mary put the bag down and pushed Tony to sit down on the stairs. She couldn’t help but worry. Had that happened to him before? She hadn’t seen it so far and was a bit at loss to what she was supposed to do in this situation. Kneeling in front of him she put both hands on his face and looked at him.

“Tony, I don’t know what’s going so you need to help me a bit okay? Everything is going to be fine, I’m here”, his eyes focused on hers. “I won’t go anywhere until you say it’s okay for you alright? And once it is we’re gonna go upstairs, cook together and have a nice evening. But right now I need to know if there is anything I can do?”

She wasn’t expecting an answer. To be honest she tried to calm herself a little with the talking. Tony appeared to be afraid of something. From personal experience as a kid, she remembered her mother holding her, being close to her, and humming songs when she was scared of something. Mary doubted that would help Tony but maybe.. before she could put more thought into that Tony had moved and actually wrapped his arms around her. His head resting on her shoulder. 

Well, that was her answer.

A smile formed on her lips and she returned the embrace. A few seconds later she couldn’t help but hum a song her mother used to sing to her as a kid. Over the next minutes, Tony began to calm down little by little and when Mary was confident she could leave him alone, she went out to retrieve the groceries he had dropped. 

That day he had told her. About what was behind the portal and that he hadn’t told anyone so far. It was weird for her. He hadn’t been alone in that fight. Even though the others hadn’t seen the same, they had seen the aliens. And then there was Pepper. Mary hadn’t met her but Tony talked about her a lot. They were close and to Mary, it was very clear Tony was in love with her. In her opinion, he should share his fears with her so she could help him if needed. Even if it was just to embrace him as she had done on the stairs.

Tony promised that he would.

He was aware that it was better to do so. He had taken his time to gather enough courage to reach the point where he was finally okay to tell Pepper about Mary. By then there were already various rumors all around and he had to clear up a few things. But he didn’t want to do it on his own. And so, four days later, Tony had invited Mary for dinner at the tower. 

When she arrived it didn’t take her long to realize there would be more people attending than only her. Those people were the other Avengers. Most of them had begun to stay here even if they had their own places and things to do. No doubt they were growing closer together as a group.

Between the usual suspects she kind of expected to see around here even though Tony hadn’t said anything about them joining the siblings for dinner, was one person Mary didn’t know. Going by everything Tony had told her up until this point, she could tell it was Pepper and she didn’t look too happy once she spotted Mary. It appeared today would be the day to officially meet.

“Nervous?”

Turning to Clint Mary shook her head. “Because of us having dinner together? No. I mean, most of you have good manners so I don’t worry too much about today”, she said with a grin.

“Yeah, well, I can tell Pepper isn’t too happy with you being here”, he motioned towards the woman who had turned around and was now talking to Tony. Even without hearing what the conversation was about, it was more than obvious that she didn’t like Mary being here. Everything she knew about Tony’s sister was what the news told. Obviously, those were lies. Tony didn’t have a secret relationship with a younger woman and while it was one thing to not tell the media the truth, it was another to not tell Pepper.

“Can’t believe he didn’t tell her by now.”

“Believe me, he didn’t want to tell us either and you’re lucky Nick Fury hasn’t stopped by yet.”

Mary furrowed her brows. “Nick Fury?”

“You’ll meet him soon enough, don’t worry.”

Oh, but she wanted to worry. Who was he? Clint made it sound like he was the last person on earth she or anyone wanted to meet. No doubt she would eventually run into him based on how Clint said it. He was giving her a little tease of something she wasn’t sure she would enjoy or not. Was he their boss? Did the Avengers have a boss? She knew she wouldn’t get an answer to that. Everything that had to do with what they did was a secret and Mary accepted that. Alone the fact that she, that everyone, knew there was something else out in the universe felt incredibly weird and frightening. So maybe it was good no one told her anything, even who Nick Fury was or what he did.

“Everything okay over here?”, Natasha asked as she stepped closer. She had helped with preparing the food. Ever since Tony had begun to visit Mary or the other way around, they would cook together occasionally. It was something he tried to do here as well and given that today was a special day, everyone had helped with the preparations in some way. Right now Steve and Bruce were setting the table in the dining room. Sometimes the sound of their voices or the clattering of dishes could be heard throughout the large open room.

“We’re fine”, Clint wrapped an arm around Mary’s shoulder. “Guess Mary feels a bit uneasy about meeting Pepper.”

Natasha nodded in understanding. “Don’t worry, she’s a nice person.”

Mary believed Natasha as she said that. From everything she had heard about Pepper so far there was nothing that made her believe she was a bad person. It was only the fact that Tony, once again, couldn’t be honest with the people around him. It would have made things a lot easier right now.

And that was something Tony knew.

The moment Mary had walked in and Pepper had spotted her, he found himself in an unpleasant situation. Pepper had walked over to him and pulled him away from anyone who would be able to hear them talk. Even before she spoke, the look on her face told him she wasn’t happy.

“Why is she here?”

“Well”, he began. “That’s a little bit complicated. I mean, I’m probably making this more complicated than it should be but.. you know. This is a weird situation for me to be in.”

“A weird situation for you? I’m constantly being asked about who she is”, Pepper interfered. No matter where she went people would question her about the ‘new woman’ in Tony Stark's life. A part of her told her it was nothing. She could clearly remember how she had first met Natasha and the misunderstanding of who she was. There was nothing she had to worry about back then, so why should she worry now?

She knew why.

Tony spent a lot of time with the young woman. So much that he would cancel a long-planned date with her because he had something important to do. Later, Pepper would see reports about Tony being spotted with the very same young woman who had just walked in here and was now talking to Clint and Natasha as if she had known them for a long time. Pepper was aware there were things Tony couldn’t talk about because S.H.I.E.L.D. would be standing on his front door one second later. However, if this woman had something to do with that part of his life he could just say it and Pepper wouldn’t ask any more questions.

No doubt, based on how he evaded her, the woman had nothing to do with anything related to S.H.I.E.L.D. or the Avengers.

“I’m sorry about that”, Tony grabbed Peppers’ hand and gave it a light squeeze.

It was a mystery to him how she put up with him all the time. They had their ups and downs, nothing they couldn’t work out in the end. He knew that it was a wiser decision to be honest. He had seen it during the past weeks, back when told the truth about his sister after his friends asked or when he told Mary about his dreams. His fears. He needed to tell Pepper about those as well, just maybe not today. One truth at the time. That was his plan.

“Then please tell me what’s going on.”

Tony could hear the pleading in her voice loud and clear. Taking a deep breath he nodded. “Okay”, her hand still in his, he began to pull her towards Mary who was still talking with Natasha and Clint. They had moved from their initial spot into the open kitchen where Clint was showing her a few things they had cooked today. He watched as she took a spoon to taste the curry Tony had made. The recipe was hers or rather her mothers. He had asked for it after Mary had made it for him for the first time and now, when he saw her smile, he did the same.

“This tastes great!”, Mary said as she looked at Clint. “Just like my mums. Did you make it?”

“I feel honored but no, you should know better than that”, he made a motion towards Tony who was walking closer along with Pepper. “As if he would allow us to get our hands on the recipe.”

Mary smiled. “If you ask nicely..”, she let out a yelp when Clint pinched her arm as he noted how, with every passing day, she became bolder and he wanted to blame Tony for that. Rubbing her arm Mary simply glared at Clint. “Just trying to adapt so I have a chance here.”

“A chance?”, it was Tony. He and Pepper were standing on the other side of the counter looking at the other three people. Clint and Mary stood side by side, Natasha was leaning against the counter behind them, looking at the situation with a smile.

“I simply noticed how she’s being a lot bolder than when we first met her and I blame you for that.”

“And all I said was I’d give you the recipe if you ask”, looking from Clint to Tony, Mary could see Pepper next to him as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. “You should consider yourself lucky, Tony appears to be a rather good cook”, she was trying to lighten the mood but could soon tell Pepper didn’t agree. And there was a reason for that.

“He usually doesn’t cook for me”, with that she turned to Tony. “I wonder why?”

“Yes Tony, why?”, Natasha chimed in.

He simply glared at the red-haired woman. “You guys are the worst.”

“Not true”, Clint noted. “We love you but you’re an idiot.”

“Tony”, it was Pepper. “Why do I feel like out of all the people here I’m the one to not know what is going on?”

He sighed. “Because... that’s how it is and before you say anything let me explain please”, he gave her the most ‘I’m an adorable little puppy please don’t be mad look’ before waving Mary over to him. While she stepped around the counter to stand next to him, he began to explain. “Look, I know I’m definitely not the best person when it comes to honesty and I’m not proud of it. Mary she… she came by at an inconvenient time which is why they”, he pointed at Clint and Natasha who were standing in the kitchen with them, as well as Bruce and Steve who were several feet away, still occupied with preparing the table and so they didn’t catch anything of the conversation that was happening right now. “Know what’s going on.”

“And that would be?”, Pepper inquired after Tony fell silent.

When Mary stepped next to him, he put a hand on her shoulder and motioned towards Pepper. “Mary, this is Pepper, Pepper, this is Mary”, he paused for a second. “She’s my sister.”

Silence fell over the group in the kitchen. The only sounds came from the direction where Steve and Bruce were.

How was this possible?

Pepper had no idea what to say. In a way, it now made sense to her why Tony would cancel one of their dates to be with Mary. He had never mentioned a sister and just recently began to spend time with her going by the news, which meant she hadn’t been anywhere near New York for a long time. Looking at them standing next to each other Pepper could see similarities but they were few and more and more questions began to arise. One of them more important than the others.

“Does Fury know?”

Again that name. “Can someone please tell me who that is?”

Tony looked at her. “Scary guy wears an eyepatch. Don’t worry about him.”

For some reason she did began to worry.

~*~

_“You’re aware they will ask you about Mary?”_

Oh, he was aware of that.

Tony had called for a press conference. Mostly because of the fight, clearing a few questions regarding what had happened and what Stark Industries would do to prevent something like that again. He assured the people in the room and those who were watching that his company would continue to take care of whatever remains were still out there as well as helping with the repairs. He didn’t say it out loud but a part of him blamed himself for the damage. They could’ve been more careful but if they had, just maybe, more people would have died.

Even now, months later, people had questions about the aliens. Some he could answer, some he could not. Or some he didn’t want to answer.

People didn’t need to know about a portal opening stone even if that was now save in Asgard. Neither did they need to know about a mind controlling one either. Sometimes it was good to not know about certain things and if he could do something about not leaking information, he would stick to that.

Of course, he expected other questions which had nothing to do with the initial theme of the press conference too and right now what Pepper had said before the conference, repeated in his mind.

Cameras on him, eyes on him.

“Mr. Stark in the past few weeks you were seen with a woman. There are various pictures and rumors but so far no official statement. I know this isn’t part of the conference but I believe I’m not the only one inside this room who is interested in that.”

“Of course, I know that but I don’t think I’m in the position to talk about that.”

“Then who is?”

_“What will you tell them?”_

“Should we ask Miss Potts about it then?”

Tony turned to look at Pepper. She was with him. Normally she would go between him and the reporters if things got ‘out of control’. It wasn’t the case here. Not yet. There was a silent conversation between the two of them before he took out his phone and began to type something.

She couldn’t help him here. Neither did she want to.

It was Tony’s decision what or when to tell people. She had to wait weeks before finding out the truth but she knew that it was also Mary’s decision. After being introduced to each other Pepper had talked to her, asked her questions. Why she was here, who her mother was. If she intended to join Stark Industries. Mary answered all those questions as good as she could. She didn’t like keeping secrets and now that she was in the focus of a lot of people who followed her and took pictures, asked questions, it was becoming harder for her to go by her normal life. And it wouldn’t get easier.

Mary had told Pepper that she didn’t intend to join Stark Industries. That she was her for a selfish reason: meet Tony, be a family.

She had also told her that she never told anyone about her brother in the past because it didn’t feel right. One because they didn’t communicate anyway and two because she was worried it would cause trouble for Tony. There was one person Mary didn’t like lying to though because essentially that was what she did. Good intentions or not.

And that person was Valerie.

A few days after Mary and Pepper were officially introduced Mary had told Valerie that there was something important she needed to tell her, but so far there hadn’t been the ‘right moment’.

There had been a brief conversation about what the right moment would be between Tony and Mary. During that conversation, both expressed it would be fine if the other talked about it, with Mary stating that all she wanted was a little warning before Tony would go and spill a 27-year-old secret to the public.

“I’m not sure how Miss Potts will be of assistance on that matter”, the smile Tony put up was nothing but a front. He knew there was no easy way out of this. Just like Mary had been asked questions about herself and Tony, he had to face those too. Until now both of them had remained quiet about it. It was easy to get away when you were out on the streets but in this room, Tony was trapped.

“Well”, a young man in the audience took the word. “There have been rumors that the woman you have been with, is in a relationship with you which would mean you and Miss Potts..”

“Oh please”, Tony, now finished with the message, put his phone away and turned towards the man. “That is ridiculous.”

“And why is that?”, another man asked.

_“I’ll tell them the truth.”_

Tony hesitated. Looking around the room he looked into a lot of expecting faces. He needed a little more time. “One because Miss Potts and I are close and so if I would be seeing someone else it would only be fair to say so instead of lying - which should be a given for everyone. And if that was the case this would be a private matter”, his phone, which was still in his hand, vibrated twice signaling an incoming message. He turned his attention away from the reporters, his eyes looking at the display as he read the text.

_~ Nat and I are on our way - Clint. ~_

He smiled.

Those were good news and it meant that he wouldn’t have to worry about Mary at this moment. Yes, he failed to warn her but at least she wouldn’t be alone when all hell broke loose around her.

“And two.. it would be absolutely inappropriate because she’s my sister.”

People began to murmur at that. The sound of camera shutters was heard. This wasn’t as big as when he announced that he was Iron Man but it was enough. People made notes and various hands were raised. Of course, they had questions. This would be a long day for sure.

~*~

Needless to say, Mary wasn’t happy about how the day turned out.

She was in the middle of work when the door to the diner swung open with quite some force behind it. Almost like someone was in a rush. As she turned to look towards it she spotted Clint and Natasha who looked worried. Or at least that’s how Mary saw it. For a moment she wondered if something had happened to Tony and they were here to tell her the bad news.

When Natasha smiled, Mary came to the conclusion that everything was fine.

Or not.

They explained how Tony had asked them to come here because he officially told the world who she was. A part of her was upset. Yes, she knew that this was going to happen but he could’ve told her before. Warn her. That’s what they had agreed on. In a way, she felt betrayed but she was glad that Tony made sure someone was here to keep an eye on her and be there in case reporters, who definitely would show up, would get too close for comfort. In the past, she had to deal with people who were way too interested in her and her relationship with Tony alone. 

She and Tony had talked about it. What to do. When to tell others. Tony had told her that there were people who would come to see her and he didn’t just mean reporters. One of those people had a name she was told before. 

Nick Fury.

Seemed like it was time to find out if she had to worry about him or not.

Natasha reassured her everything would be fine. She wasn’t alone in it even if it felt that way. She told her that she had the Avengers at her side and what could go wrong with that? They had fought aliens after all.

But things wouldn’t be just ‘fine’.


	6. The One where Christmas gets canceled

“I can’t believe it”, Valerie wasn’t mad or anything like that. Yes, she would have found it nicer if Mary told her that the mystery brother was Tony Stark instead of hearing it on the news and being welcomed by reporters waiting around the diner.

Everyone wanted an interview with Mary. Wanted to know where she had been all the time, why she was in New York and so much more. Tony, as well as Pepper, had given her advice about how to handle the reporters and their approaches were quite different from each other. In the end, Mary decided it would be for the best to ‘kill them with kindness’. 

Whenever reporters stopped by the diner she would treat them like all the other customers. Welcome them, ask what they wanted to drink and eat. She told them she was doing her job and while she understood they were doing theirs, there was nothing more to say. 

Yes, she was Tony’s sister. No, neither was she joining Stark Industries nor the Avengers.

None of those things would change. Neither tomorrow nor in a year.

By now people knew about her mother. That she had worked for Howard Stark as a photographer. Of course, people would look up her works and Mary would be confronted with looking at old pictures her mum took or pictures of her. Eight months and counting weren’t a long time to push the painful memories of their last days together away. And with the death anniversary in February coming up, it wouldn’t be easier. Time seemed to fly by fast.

Tony had asked people to consider Mary’s feeling and be indulgent with her for she simply wanted to spend time with him. She had her own life, her own job. He didn’t want her to get into trouble.

The same went for her friends, her coworkers. They were simply bystanders.

“I mean, in retrospect, this makes a lot of sense you know? You never told me your brothers' name, then you’re like ‘oh he was in a meeting’ and after a while, Tony Stark showed up wanting to talk with you”, Valerie turned to lay on her stomach.

Together with Mary, she had decided it would be time for another movie night. Not that they paid any attention to the TV. While Mary sat in front of the couch eating some ice cream, Valerie had gotten comfortable on said couch. There were so many things she was learning. She hadn’t known Mary for long so she was aware that it was normal not to know everything about each other. Hell, she hadn’t told Mary much about her family either because it didn’t appear to be important to share.

But Valerie had played a big part in giving Mary the courage to walk up to Tony so a little more trust would have been nice.

Mary nodded in thought as she took another spoon full of ice cream. “Mhm, I guess so. I wanted to tell you. Tony simply was faster. I’m sure you can file a complaint.”

“Oh yeah? Can I hand it in personally so I can stare him into the ground?”

“You’d love that huh?”

“Absolutely”, Valerie nodded. “He behaved like an ass towards you for years. At least if I go by what you told me and now he’s trying to go win the award for being the best big brother of the year. He’s gonna have to go past me to earn that title.”

When Valerie began to chuckle, it didn’t take long for Mary to join in.

Maybe she would take Valerie to meet her brother in the coming days. Let her stare him into the ground as she called it. Tony sure deserved it and Valerie was able to put on a mean face that scared people away if she wanted to. Though, thinking about it, it probably wouldn’t be enough to scare Tony or any of his friends. Mary wondered if they would be okay if she brought Valerie with her the next time she would go to the tower or if that would be a problem.

During the past weeks, even before people knew she was Tony’s sister, she walked past by fans who waited around the tower to catch a glimpse of their heroes. They would give her weird looks when she simply ignored them and walked up to the door. Even more so when she was allowed inside. What would happen if she began to bring other people with her?

Jarvis, as she learned the name was, welcomed her and opened the door before she even had the chance to ring. She was able to come and go as she pleased but she didn’t know if that would still apply if she wasn’t alone. Of course, there were several parts of the tower she wasn’t allowed in but that was okay for her. She didn’t want to get in too deep. A part of her told her she already was but she hadn’t experienced what that meant.

Not until a couple of days later at least.

Finishing work early, Mary had enough time to walk around the city and buy groceries before heading home. As she turned around the corner of the street where she lived, she noticed a black car that she hadn’t seen around before. Not that she kept tabs on what cars her neighbors drove. This one simply stood out.

As she opened the door to the building, she pushed the thought aside. Maybe someone had a visitor, nothing to worry about.

Walking up the stairs to the floor her apartment was on Mary soon had to realize she had a visitor and maybe that was something to worry about because she remembered one thing Tony had told her in the past: Nick Fury was a scary guy with an eyepatch.

Eyepatch? Check.

Scary guy? Yes, she wanted to put a check mark on that.

He was leaning against her door, arms crossed in front of his chest and when she reached the top of the stairs, he turned to look at her.

“Mary Patterson.”

She walked a few steps closer. “Nick Fury.”

He grinned. “Let me guess, Tony told you about me?”

“Not only him”, she nodded. “I wasn’t told much though, in fact, I only know your name. Don’t know what you do or what your relationship with Tony or any of the others is but I guess it might be more on the professional side.”

“I see Tony likes to keep things to himself. Do you mind if I come in so we can continue this conversation in a more private environment?”, he made a motion to the other doors on this floor. He had caught the attention of two or three people since he had arrived. One an older woman who, as far as he could tell after she talked to him, lived on the floor beneath and she was worried because he crept around. She told him to get out or she would call the police. Whether or not she had was a mystery to him. So far no one had come to ask what he was doing here. 

Better not to find out though.

“Can I ask you something first?”, Mary stepped closer to the door and watched Fury step to the side so she could open it. Looking at him Mary studied his face, tried to see something in his eye, some kind of reaction to tell her if she could trust him or not. All he did, for now, was to nod at her question. “Am I in trouble? For being here or contacting Tony?”

He shook his head. “No, of course not.”

Looking at him for a few more moments Mary came to the conclusion that he told the truth. And so, as she unlocked the door, she welcomed him inside.

Fury looked around the apartment, trying to take as much in as possible. He had followed Mary for a few days and of course, he also searched and looked at every information he could get about her. She was very different from her brother, no doubt about that. It was visible in how she lived. Even with him being in here for the first time and with only a handful of minutes that had passed, all those tiny trinkets and pictures told him she valued different things than Tony. 

He knew why she was here. He had done his homework.

She lived a simple life combined to Tony. One where the family was high on the list of priorities. Thinking of Tony, Fury didn’t see that. For a very long time the only person Tony cared about was himself. He was far from a team player which was why the whole Avengers initiative could’ve gone terribly wrong. Fury did put his trust in Tony, he wanted to believe it could work and it did. In the end, Tony went so far as to even be willing to sacrifice himself to save the people of New York.

Since the meeting weeks ago where Mary first came into the picture but no one believed it would be true, Fury hadn’t talked to Tony. There were other things he had to take care of but now that he was back and more importantly after Tony’s interview he had time to focus on this. 

“Do you want something to drink? Water, coffee? I do have some tea”, Mary opened the fridge to look inside. “And orange juice”, she turned to look at Fury who was still standing in the middle of the room. She pointed to the couch. “Feel free to sit down.”

“Thank you”, he smiled. It was easy for him to tell that Mary didn’t feel too comfortable having him here. He didn’t want to make this longer than necessary. Which is why he declined the offer of having a drink. “I don’t want to take up too much of your time.”

Well, that was nice.

As Mary began to stow away the groceries, Fury began to talk and ask questions.

That was after he formally introduced himself. He didn’t say what exactly S.H.I.E.L.D. did because that information was classified but he told her that he had brought together the Avengers and that both, them and S.H.I.E.L.D., ultimately wanted to protect people from aliens or whatever else there might be. Mary appreciated that, she bet a lot of people did. It made her wonder if Fury had believed in aliens before the attack. He didn’t seem like the type but then again, he had known Tony before that. Same went for the rest of the group. 

“I’m aware your father did everything he could to keep you safe and I believe Tony would do the same. From what I can tell he opened up to others a bit more since you arrived and right now my ‘problem’ is that I need him and the others for a few jobs”, he watched as Mary narrowed her eyes. The last few groceries were standing on the counter as she watched him closely, waiting for him to continue talking. “I have my doubts he’s willing to leave you on your own at the moment.”

Mary wasn’t sure how to feel about that. It wasn’t like Tony was around her constantly. Neither did they talk every day. Yes, she spent a lot of time at the tower but he wasn’t always there. Sometimes she would talk to Natasha or Steve, go out and grab a bite together. She even met with Pepper every once in a while but overall she was still spending more time at work and her own home, than with her brother. Until now she never felt like Tony would neglect his duties as, she guessed Iron Man, to be around her.

“You want me to.. tell him to take your job offer?”

The answer was a nod. “Yes. I know it’s a strange request but right now I’d say Tony listens to you more than to anyone else.”

“It’s indeed a strange request”, and she had no idea how to approach Tony about this. Should she just tell him straight away? Tony and her had the whole honesty talk before. This was no different and she figured it would be for the best to tell him how things were. Whether or not Fury liked it. She wanted to do this one on her terms. “Promise me one thing?”

“If it’s within my reach to keep that promise in the first place, of course.”

“Promise me Tony will be home for Christmas. It’ll be the first one we’ll be able to spend together after all.”

“I promise.”

~*~

Mary intended to help Fury. She had no idea how good or bad it would go but, she would try it. December was almost there and Mary had a very good idea Tony wouldn’t be happy having to work through the month. He wanted to do other things. Spend time with Pepper mostly. There was a lot he had to fix despite her not being that mad about not trusting her enough to tell her about Mary.

He still had to tell Pepper about his dreams. His fears.

Instead of doing so he did other things. One, he spent time with Mary. He would go to the diner, have food, talk to her when she had a free minute. There were always a lot of people around to ask for a picture with him and autographs. He didn’t mind though from time to time he felt overwhelmed with the sheer amount of people around him. And so it happened that Mary had to intervene when she noticed him panicking. 

She would take him to the back room, sit with him, tell him stories of places she had visited with her mother. She would hum the same song every time and Tony would find himself humming it when he did the second thing he preferred doing instead of talking about his fears:

tinkering.

He had begun to start working on a project he called Iron Legion. He had only the best intentions when he began to bring that project to life. He wanted to protect the people. He wanted to protect Pepper. And Mary.

And now Mary talked to him about how Nick Fury had a job for him and he should take it.

“Are you serious?”

“About me telling you to take the job? Yes”, she moved in her armchair. Tony had visited her once again because there were things he wanted to talk about. Like the upcoming Christmas holidays. “You know I’ll be fine, and so will Pepper. I don’t know what Fury exactly wants from you and I won’t bother to ask but”, she paused for a second, wondering what to say. From time to time she had problems making it clear what she meant without upsetting people. “I think it’ll help. Just do something different and then, before you know it, Christmas will be around the corner and we’ll sit together enjoying the food.”

“You know that’s what I wanted to talk about. Christmas”, he didn’t want to bother about the job. A part of him knew Mary was right. Taking the job, whatever it was, could be a good thing. There also were those recent Mandarin bombings that made him worry. Though recent was the wrong word. They had happened every once in a while for several months now. Just why had it to be around Christmas? “Pepper and I, we want to invite you over to our place in Malibu on the 25th.”

Mary raised an eyebrow. “Our?” She simply smiled when Tony stared back at her. “I’m glad to see things are going well with you two. Anyway, I’d love to come by. Though.. I’m not sure how to get there, it’s not exactly around the corner.”

“I can pick you up. Or I send someone to do so. And yeah, given that it’s not around the corner I’d say its best to travel by plane. I can arrange that”, he offered. “Oh, by the way, now that we’re kind of talking about that: do you even have a driver's license?”, he asked as he realized he didn’t know that. Mary walked or took the metro to get to work or to him. All he knew was that she didn’t own a car.

“I have yes, I guess I just prefer to not use a car”, she had lived in areas without ‘real’ roads. It was easier to walk, take the bike. Looking at the roads in New York she didn’t feel like driving anyway. There were too many people around for her liking. “Listen, can I bring Valerie? I’ll be with her on the 24th and you know, she wants to meet you.”

Tony was fine with that. Valerie was Mary’s friend after all, he wouldn’t deny his sister to bring her along. He had done his homework regarding Valerie. There was nothing he worried about, no ulterior motives or anything along those lines. Mary had met his friends, that’s what he wanted to call Steve, Bruce and the rest. He wasn’t sure where Thor stood in all of this. The God of Thunder hadn’t stopped by ever since he went back home to Asgard all those months back. In a way Tony still wanted to call him a friend and so, with Mary asking to bring Valerie along, it only seemed fair.

He wanted to meet her friends as well. Even if it was only one person at this point.

The only thing he didn’t feel comfortable with was the fact that he would spend Christmas being outnumbered by women. Having Pepper and Mary ‘working against’ him was one thing he had to deal with regularly, and Valerie would surely side with Mary. Three against one didn’t appear fair to him but he would be fine no matter what.

~*~

Christmas came fast.

There was a lot to do and Mary didn’t have time to talk to Tony. Not that he had time either. He had taken the job and would send a message every once in a while saying he was okay. Ask how things were back home.

Mary would always give the same answer: things were good but busy.

Her boss had made them decorate the diner. Told them to welcome the Christmas spirit. If Mary was honest she wished Christmas was already over. She never necessarily liked the time before and after Christmas. As a child that was different but as she grew older she realized it was more work than fun. This year was supposed to be a little different.

Shortly after Tony had left, Mary met with Pepper to do some Christmas shopping.

Her plan was to get everyone a small present but she needed help with that. She already had something for Tony: a photo album she had started to put together not that long after he first visited her. She felt like it wasn’t enough though and who else was there to help but Pepper? She had known Tony for a while now and she knew the others better than Mary as well. Plus, it was fun spending time together. 

Thinking about it Pepper would have never thought things would turn out like this when she saw the first pictures of Tony and Mary.

Now they would meet for dinner or sometimes even breakfast.

Just like Mary, Pepper was looking forward to the Christmas dinner. Things between her and Tony had been rough during the past days before he went away. She knew there was something he kept to himself. Something he wasn’t ready to share with her but him working on his Iron Legion - Pepper didn’t like it. She was hoping that once they would all be together, things would be better.

She was also looking forward to meeting Valerie and even suggested the three of them should meet before Christmas.

That never happened.

Neither did the Christmas dinner.

On the 24th Mary met with Valerie. They had both agreed to celebrate at Valerie’s place but had cooked together to share the work. It didn’t feel a lot different from their movie nights on which they would occasionally cook but mostly order food since it was more convenient. Movie nights also didn’t involve presents.

“I have to say I’m a little bit nervous about tomorrow”, Valerie admitted during dinner.

“You mean about meeting Tony and Pepper? Don’t worry about it, they’re both really nice and Pepper can’t wait to meet you”, Mary reassured her friend. It was going to be a normal Christmas dinner, nothing more. That was what she wanted to believe. Not only for her sake but also for Tony’s. Push away everything that caused his nightmares even if it was only for a few hours.

“That’s nice to hear. By the way”, Valerie stood up from the table and walked to her desk from where she retrieved a letter. She showed the envelope to Mary without handing it over. “I have filed a complaint.”

“Seriously?”, she never believed Valerie would do it. Oh, she was interested in how Tony would react and what exactly was written down. 

When she asked Valerie denied to answer that, only that she could assure her friend she had been nice when writing it but that Tony shouldn’t believe that Valerie wouldn’t fight him. Not that fighting was an option. It was more a figure of speech. As she put away the letter, Mary got up as well and began to collect the dishes and put them into the dishwasher. “We still have dessert.”

“Well”, after putting the letter away Valerie walked over to the kitchen to help Mary. “I say we wait a bit because I’m still full. In the meantime, we can watch some TV. There’s probably a wide range of Christmas movies for us to enjoy.”

Mary gave her friend a sidelong glance. “I’m not sure whether you’re serious or not.”

The answer was nothing but a smile. TV it was then, at least after the mess was cleaned up. Mary didn’t want to leave everything to Valerie, especially since they both would be picked up early tomorrow to be taken to Tony’s house in Malibu. He had said something about a private jet and Mary couldn’t deny being excited for that. Neither could Valerie. Contrary to Mary she had already put together her luggage which would include the letter.

She didn’t understand why Mary hadn’t bothered about packing her things so far and couldn’t help but to wonder when she would do that. Valerie had offered for Mary to sleep at her place. Saying it would be easier for whoever would pick them up to just drive to one location. While Mary had to agree that it would be the better option, she didn’t want to take her regular luggage plus the presents with her this evening.

Finishing up with putting the dishes in the dishwasher, Mary turned it on while Valerie grabbed two glasses and a bottle of wine.

A nice ending for a nice evening was what Valerie said as she turned to walk back to her living room. 

She sat down after putting everything on the coffee table, grabbed the remote control to turn on the TV and then went to open the wine bottle. Mary was halfway to the couch when the TV screen turned on and the first words she heard made her stop dead in her tracks. 

“... explosion earlier this day, Tony Stark hasn’t been found and is presumed to be dead. Authorities have..”

Just like Mary stopped to stare at the screen, Valerie did the same. Was this true? Grabbing the remote Valerie switched the channel and the news were the same: 

the mansion in Malibu, the very same they were supposed to be tomorrow to enjoy a nice dinner and have a fun time, had been completely destroyed. The pictures that were shown emphasized the words that were spoken: there was no way anyone who had been in the mansion could have survived. Tony Stark was dead. How could this be?

Turning around to look at Mary, Valerie found her standing in the middle of the room. Eyes wide and body trembling. “Mary”, Valerie got up from the couch and walked to her friend. “I’m so sorry”, she gave Mary a hug, but it wasn’t returned.

“I have to go and check in with Jarvis”, Mary’s voice was nothing more than a whisper and her eyes were still fixed on the TV. This couldn’t be possible. Tony couldn’t be dead, he just couldn’t. And what about Pepper? She had to have been at the mansion as well right? Mary remembered how Tony had told her he wanted to spend the day with her, and Pepper herself had said it when the two women had been shopping. “Jarvis has to know something.”

Valerie took a step back, hands resting on Mary’s shoulders. “Do you want me to come with you?”

The answer to that was clear. “No”, Mary shook her head. “No, I need to do this alone... I mean.. I need you to stay here. I’ll call you. Either later or in the morning. I… I think I’ll stay at the tower tonight but thank you”, all the while she was talking, Mary continued to look at the TV. She had just gotten her brother back, she wasn’t going to lose him now. Jarvis had to know something. Maybe he could contact Tony or Pepper. He sure had to be able to contact one of the others like Steve or Bruce, maybe even Fury. There had to be someone to help her, someone who knew what was going on.

As she stepped away from Valerie to grab her jacket and bag, a strange feeling overcame her. One that said to not go alone and in retrospect that would have been a wise decision.

Tonight was not the time for those.

Saying goodbye to her friend, essentially leaving her worried on the spot, Mary left the apartment in a hurry and began to move down the street completely oblivious to what was happening around her. She didn’t pay attention to the people passing her, neither did she to the cars. She barely paid attention to the traffic lights for her to not just be overrun. The snow on the street crunching under every step she took.

As she bumped into someone she turned her head into their direction, mumbling a small ‘sorry’ before continuing on her way. The tower was close by now, two more streets and she would be there. She reached another street she had to cross, stopping to check for the traffic she noticed a van driving down the street. Taking a step back and waiting for it to pass she watched as it drove past her but then stopped. The back door opened and one person got out. They raised their arm as if to signal someone behind Mary.

Before Mary had the chance to look down the sidewalk behind her to see who was there, someone grabbed her. She wasn’t able to scream as her mouth was covered with a piece of cloth. The last thing she took in was the feeling of being dragged towards the van. And then everything went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're now reaching the prologue territory.
> 
> I hope to finish a few more chapters this week. Depending on how long they're gonna be Thor and Loki will be joining in 3 chapters, maybe less, maybe more. 
> 
> I'm trying to keep things canon, mostly the movie timeline, as much as possible at this point.


	7. The One with the failed Plan

When Mary neither called that evening nor the next day, Valerie began to worry.

It wasn’t like Mary. Yes, this situation was special. Valerie couldn’t tell how she would react if this would have happened to her. She was an only child, the only person in her family she was close to and would consider a sister, was her cousin. She didn’t want to imagine losing her.

It was worse enough that the explosion had seemed to happen on the 23rd but neither her nor Mary had heard about it until the next day. They had been together during the whole time, got the last few things for making dinner in the morning, then they went home. Mary had slept at Valerie’s place. They had never turned on the TV during that time and no one had called Mary to tell her what was going on.

Since now it was Mary to not call in order to inform Valerie what she had found out, she had tried to call Mary several times. The news were still covering the story about the explosion. There was no change: Tony Stark was still dead.

And now Mary seemed to have disappeared as well.

Her phone went straight to the mailbox. Valerie had learned one thing about Mary very early on after the first met: she never turned off her phone. Silent yes, but this? She had stopped turning it off after her mother got sick so in case something happened Mary could respond immediately. So what was happening now? Why would Mary turn off her phone when Valerie was sure, she would wait for a call to tell her Tony was alive and the news had it all wrong?

It didn’t matter.

Grabbing her coat and a scarf, Valerie decided to find out what was going on.

Last evening Mary had said she would stay at the tower and that was where Valerie would go now. Someone there had to be able to give her an answer to where her friend was and if the news about Tony were true. Right?

Oh, Valerie sure hoped so.

Making her way through the streets and the people going by their normal day, Valerie found herself trying to call Mary once again. The outcome always the same. At this point, she knew that wouldn’t change but she didn’t want to stop trying. The closer she got to the tower, the more anxious she got. Even more so when the tower came into view and she could see several cars and reporters standing there. Of course, that would happen. She knew she had to get past them somehow to make it to the front door and even then there was no guarantee she was allowed inside.

Unless Mary was there.

As she got closer she could hear the reporters asking someone questions and that someone trying to answer them. 

It was a female voice and at first, without seeing the person, Valerie hoped it would be Pepper because that meant Tony was okay as well. However, when she got closer and moved so she could see the person, she saw a red-haired woman she did recognize. Mary had told her about the people Tony worked with. About the Avengers. Not that the news didn’t already cover that. But Mary told things the news didn’t know. About how nice they were and how they sometimes would have food together.

The person in front of the reporters, in front of the cameras, was Natasha Romanoff.

“I’m afraid this is everything I can tell you at this point”, Natasha excused herself and turned to go back inside the tower. She hadn’t been here in a while and now she came back to this mess. No one had an idea of what was going on right now. Tony had vanished. Not even Jarvis was able to help, saying that Tony didn’t respond to him and he couldn’t find him anywhere.

Was Tony really gone?

Natasha could hear the reporters call out her name. They had more question but she couldn’t answer any of those.

“Natasha!”

Turning around at the voice calling her by her first name, Natasha spotted a semi-familiar face. The dark blonde woman hadn’t been here before and the security guards who Nick Fury had sent over to keep people away from the tower, immediately went to hold her back as she stepped past the reporters.

“It’s okay”, Natasha gave a nod to the security. “Let her through.”

Valerie was surprised it was that easy. Giving the guard who had stopped her a glance, she rushed past him and towards Natasha who waited for her. “I’m sorry to bother you but is Mary here? I’m Valerie by the way, Valerie Blair. I’m a friend of hers, we work together.”

“I know who you are, just like you obviously know my name”, she smiled for a second before turning to walk towards the tower, motioning for Valerie to follow her. “Let’s get inside. There are too many nosy people around.”

“Sure”, she didn’t want to object to that and so she fell into step next to the other woman. “So, is Mary with you guys?”

“Why are you asking?”

“Because last night, after we saw the news, she said she wanted to come here. Ask someone named Jarvis if he knew anything and stay here overnight”, Valerie wasn’t entirely sure but for some reason, there was just the tiniest reaction on Natasha’s face that told her Mary wasn’t here. “I asked if I should go with her but she wanted to go alone. Please tell me she’s here.”

She expected the answer she was given.

“She’s not.”

Natasha told her some of her friends were inside and that they should go upstairs and meet with them before talking any further. Maybe one of them had heard from Mary as she had not. After stepping into the elevator Natasha pulled out her phone and went to type a message to Nick Fury. It were five simple words.

‘Mary might be in trouble.’

It hadn’t been long after Fury had stopped by Mary’s place for the first time, everyone found out about the visit. Mary didn’t like to keep this to herself and they had told her to expect it. It basically was a ‘should have believed you guys’ situation.

Bruce and Clint turned towards the elevator as it arrived on the floor. The first person they spotted when the doors opened was Natasha and behind her an, to at least Bruce, unfamiliar face. Clint was surprised to see Valerie and that didn’t go unnoticed. Natasha went and introduced everyone who was present. It felt weird to all of them. For Valerie because she only knew these people through the TV and through stories Mary told her. And if she wouldn’t be missing Valerie might have been more excited about this.

Bruce himself wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to just let people inside despite the fact the person in question right now was Mary’s friend. She didn’t appear like she had any bad intentions to be here, in fact, she looked worried. And there was this look on Natasha’s face that told them there was a very good reason she brought her upstairs. At that moment he realized something that had went unnoticed because of all the commotion regarding Tony.

Ever since the news of Tony surfaced, no one had seen Mary or heard of her.

While Clint offered Valerie a seat and asked if she wanted something to drink, Natasha send another message. This one was to Steve and it was very similar to the one she had sent Fury just a couple of moments ago. Something was wrong with Mary.

“This is weird”, Valerie noticed as Clint placed a glass of water on the table in front of her. “Never thought I’d meet any of you, not under these circumstances at least.”

“What circumstances would that be?”

It was Natasha to first answer Clint’s question. “Valerie came up to me asking if Mary was here”, there was a short pause in which Clint and Bruce looked at each other. “We might have more than one missing person.”

Now Bruce was getting visibly worried and Natasha realized that no one knew where Tony’s sister was at right now. “Tell us what happened”, Bruce said as he sat down at the table.

And so Valerie did. She began to tell how Mary and her were celebrating Christmas together, how they were supposed to be on their way to Malibu by now. They had seen the news reports and that Mary wanted to go to the tower to ask Jarvis about it. Wanted to know if he had any information because she didn’t want to believe Tony was dead. But then, this morning, when she hadn’t contacted Valerie despite telling she wanted to do so things took a different turn. Mary’s phone was shut off and now she wasn’t even here.

When Bruce asked Jarvis, an AI as Valerie learned that moment, he gave an answer none of them wanted to hear:

Mary had never been at the tower yesterday and that meant something had happened to her on the way from Valerie to where they were now.

But what?

~*~

The cell was dark and cold.

The only light Mary would see once in a while was when a small hatch was opened and food was shoved through it. Usually, it was some kind of take away. Pizza, salad, burgers. Sometimes it was frozen food that whoever was keeping her here, had shoved into a microwave for a few minutes before giving it to her. The light was enough to see what she was about to eat. As soon as it was there, it was gone already.

She would also see light when she had to use the bathroom.

Someone would enter the cell, put a bag over her head and guide her to the toilet.

After the first time, upon realizing the person would stay in front of the stall, Mary decided to eat and drink as less as she could. She didn’t like to have an ‘audience’.

Her kidnappers couldn’t care less.

All but one.

There was one guy who would talk to Mary occasionally. He sounded younger than her but she couldn’t say for sure. It was hard to guess the age just based on the voice. What Mary was able to tell, was that he seemed genuinely sorry about her being here. Almost as if this whole thing wasn’t his idea to begin with. Not that it mattered anyway, at least it gave her the opportunity to find out a few things because he was willing to talk. And so, when she asked what they wanted the answer was clear:

Money. What else?

She was related to Tony Stark and he had lots of money. He would pay them whatever they wanted to get her back. Yes, there was the ‘problem’ with him now being dead. They had planned this for a while and now someone else would have to pay for her. Tony Stark had friends, people who worked for him. They would get the ransom letter instead. Things might take longer but the young man who talked to Mary promised they would take care of her. It was never their plan to hurt her in any way. Once they had the money she was free to go and until then he would look after her when he had the time. Talk to her, bring her food.

He even asked what she would like to eat and when she did need to go to the toilet he would play music on his phone.

The days seemed to go by slow. Not that Mary had any idea how many days had passed. Sitting here in the darkness was screwing with her sense of time. She couldn’t even tell if it was day or night. Her body would give out and she would fall asleep. Sometimes it felt like she slept half the day, other times it felt like only half an hour. The ‘bed’ was far from comfortable and with every time she woke up she felt her body ache more and more. All she wanted was to go home. See Valerie, Steve, Natasha - all of them.

When she woke up from her latest sleep she could hear voices outside the cell but she couldn’t understand them. Not because they didn’t speak loud enough but because the language they spoke was one Mary didn’t know. She was too tired to care. As soon as she shut her eyes she fell asleep again.

Later that day she was brought food.

“Hey, are you awake?”

It was the same familiar voice accompanied by a knock. “Yes”, she answered as she walked over to the little light source and the tablet of food. Some sort of weird looking pasta. She didn’t want to argue, at least she was getting food.

“I have good news for you.”

“Good news as in I’m free to go?”, Mary leaned against the wall next to the door.

There was a slight chuckle. “No, but well, I guess it means that will happen soon. What I came to tell you is that Tony Stark is still alive. I know that you have no reason to believe me but it’s the truth. It seems that after the explosion he faked his death to make the person behind it believe they had succeeded. Seems like a risky plan to me but I guess someone like your brother can easily pull that off huh?”

Mary felt her heart beating faster. Tony was alive?

“Are you sure?”, she turned towards the direction of the door. “I saw the pictures of the mansion.”

“So did I. But it’s true. I don’t know how he did it, especially making the whole world believe to be dead”, the man made a pause, waiting for Mary to say something but she was just silent. He was about to ask her if she was okay when he could hear soft crying from inside the cell. “We’ve sent another letter and we’re just waiting for the response. I hope we get this done fast. Never expected to spend New Years like this. Neither did you I’m sure. Let's hope this year will be better.”

New Years?

At that moment Mary had to realize two things: 

she hadn’t just been robbed of spending her first Christmas after her mother had passed, with her brother, but also hadn’t been able to spend New Years with him either. On top of that, she hadn’t even heard any kind of fireworks. There was zero indication for her to know today's date but going by what she was told just now, it was 2013. She had been here over a week.

She really had lost any concept of time in here.

It didn’t matter much right now though. Tony was alive, she was so happy she forgot to ask about Pepper at that moment but she hoped that Pepper was fine as well. That in a few days they would be back together, look back at this and laugh. Well, maybe that was the wrong way to put it as there was nothing funny about this situation. Mary remembered Nick Fury talking to her. How he said that Tony wouldn’t be willing to leave her alone for a long time because, essentially, he was worried something could happen to her. She also remembered how he had sent Natasha and Clint to be with her after the interview. 

He did try to look out for her in his own way but a lot of things had come together this time. Tony, when he went missing, probably had no idea what had happened to her and now he came back to this whole mess involving a kidnapping.

~*~

The first ransom letter had been sent to the Avengers tower.

Steve was the one to open it and when he read it, all their fears seemed to have been confirmed: Mary was in danger.

Back when he had gotten Natasha’s message he hoped that it was a false alarm. That Mary had simply gone into hiding but her friend, Valerie, she was worried sick. It wasn’t like Mary was what she would constantly say and so they would begin to search for her. The letter arrived shortly before it was confirmed that Tony was alive and had faked his death. And that made things worse.

The moment Tony walked into the tower no one felt like throwing him a ‘Welcome home’ party, though that was what he had hoped for. He made a joke along the lines of how they didn’t appear to have missed him at all.

Jarvis hadn’t told Tony. It was their job to do it.

Everyone was there. Steve, Bruce, Clint, and Natasha. Even Fury was in the room when Tony exited the elevator.

It was Bruce to give him the letter and the bad news.

“How did this happen?”, his eyes were studying the letter. “How?!”

“We don’t know”, Steve spoke up. He watched Tony ball his hands into fists. “Someone must have taken her when she was on her way to check in with Jarvis about the explosion in Malibu.”

So essentially it was his fault. He wasn’t here to keep her safe when she needed him. And even worse: she thought he was dead. She was worried about him. She was vulnerable and someone took that chance. The letter was straightforward: we have your sister, we want money. Don’t show up in your suit or with your friends.

“I don’t care what they want”, Tony stated as he got up from his seat. “Money? My suits? Stark Industries? They can have it all. All I want is to get Mary back here safely”, he had almost lost Pepper a few days ago. Tony had never imagined anything could feel that worse. His nightmares were nothing compared to the thought of losing Pepper. All he wanted was to keep her safe and that had essentially resulted in a crack in their relationship. But then he found her. Having her back, embracing her, pushed all those fears aside.

They could start over. Enjoy their lives together and what happened? He got back to New York, to find out Mary had been kidnapped and that feeling, the fear of losing someone he cared about, someone he loved, came back full force. He would do anything to get his sister back.

His friends and Fury tried to calm him down.

They needed a plan. They had time to come up with something as the kidnappers had written that they would send the location tomorrow morning. Until then, Tony had time to get the money.

Looking at everyone in the room one by one, Tony could see the determination in their faces. They were a team, they weren’t letting Tony run into this on his own and he knew they were right. His anger was blinding him but the others, they were able to view this from a different point of view. They were able to keep a clear head.

“We’re a team”, Steve moved to stand in front of Tony and put one hand on his shoulder. “Everyone here, we’ll help you. We’ll get Mary back safely.”

Tony simply nodded. Steve was right. They were a team and they would work this out. And then, once this whole thing was over, Tony would take Pepper, Mary and her friend some place far away so they could catch up on that Christmas dinner.

~*~

Steve’s word echoed in Tony’s mind as he watched the van pull up and two people getting out. He could still see someone in the driver's seat and Mary was nowhere to be seen so far. Those people surely wouldn’t back out of the deal now would they?

No, not unless they had spotted the others or any S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Fury had sent to help them. If the kidnappers tried to get away, they wouldn’t get very far. Hell, Tony wasn’t going to let that happen. Despite the letter stating clear rules, he was breaking a lot of them. The only one he didn’t break was bringing the money. The kidnappers had made sure that the place for the exchange was far away from the city and that there weren’t a lot of hiding spots. The few there were, everyone had made sure to use them to their advantage. Tony could see the two who had gotten out of the van look around.

They all wore masks and pretty much the same clothes.

Something about that made Tony realize that the kidnapping had been planned long ago and that made him even angrier because it meant that he could have prevented it. Damn it, S.H.I.E.L.D. could have prevented it if Fury had told some agent to follow Mary around. Another thing Tony noticed was that they had handguns and he didn’t doubt they would use them if they felt the need to.

“You have the money?”, one of them asked.

Tony held up the suitcase. “Where is my sister?”

“We want to see the money first.”

Alright then. Tony opened the suitcase and showed it to them. He watched as they talked to each other, then the person who had talked to him walked two steps back and knocked against the van. Once again he watched as a door opened. Another person got out and as they turned around, the next thing Tony saw was his sister. Her hands were bound and she had a blindfold on. Watching closely he could see a fifth person in the van.

Five people. He would be able to manage them on his own.

“Mary! Are you okay?”, he watched her move her head into his direction and the person next to her look at her. There seemed to be some kind of conversation happening.

“Yeah. Can’t believe you’re alive. I saw the news”, he could tell she was scared but she also sounded happy.

“Looked worse than it was”, yeah right, Tony thought to himself. Another lie though this one didn’t matter. He was here and alive. “I’m here to pick you up.”

“Enough chit chat!”, well, one person in the group had to be the boss. They motioned the person next to Mary to move. “We’ll take the money now and make sure it’s real.”

That was fine with Tony.

Watching the person who had been tasked with retrieving the money get closer, he stole a glance at the people standing with Mary. While one of them seemed to watch him, the other looked around. Though Tony couldn’t see the facial expression he was still able to tell they were nervous. Had something caught their attention? Handing the suitcase over a young male voice reached his ears.

“They know that you’re not alone”, he whispered. “Whatever you do, do it fast once I’m on my way back”, with that he took the suitcase from Tony and turned around to the rest of his group. “I got it”, he shouted before walking back into the direction they came from.

For a second Tony wondered why this man would tell him only to realize it didn’t matter. There was a high chance those people never intended to release Mary at this moment and he was glad that he had listened to Steve and allowed him and everyone else to help him. Muttering to himself and the mic on his collar, he began to fiddle with his watch. “Jarvis I need my suit, we have a code red. They know I brought friends”, with that he pressed a button on the watch.

Code red was what they had agreed on to literally name anything if things didn’t go as planned. And with putting that into action everything went down south. Fast.

Mary was shoved to the ground as an arrow hit the back tire of the van, successfully taking it out. The back tire on the other side was soon taken out by a bullet as well. The man who had picked up the suitcase let himself fall to the ground to avoid whatever was going to happen while the first shots were fired. Tony’s suit came flying in just in time to deflect a bullet. At the same moment, Steve came running towards the men, shouting at Natasha to keep him covered.

It was then when Clint noticed one of the kidnappers grabbing something from the car. It looked like a bottle and one of the first thoughts Clint had that they had brought bombs or Molotov cocktails. “Tony!”

Looking to Clint first and then into the direction he pointed with his arrow, Tony watched as the blindfold his sister was wearing was ripped off. He spotted the bottle as well but didn’t make the connection to what it was. No bomb, no Molotov cocktail.

“You shouldn’t have done that Stark! We made the rules clear.”

He wasn’t fast enough. Not even with the suit. He had to watch as the substance inside the bottle made contact with his sister's eyes and he could hear her screaming in pain. “Mary!” Flying straight at the man Tony send him flying backward, away from the van, away from Mary who was neither saying anything nor moving at this point. Out of the corner of his eye, he barely recognized the Hulk picking up the man as he tried to scramble away, while Tony kneeled next to Mary, carefully picking her up.

“Mary. Mary, talk to me!”


	8. The One where Mary moves into the Tower

Darkness.

That was all there was.

No, that wasn't true. There were noises as well, like the steady beeping of machines. Focussing on the noises and the smell which was slowly but steadily getting more prominent, Mary was sure to know where she was: a hospital.

With that, she remembered what had happened. She had been on her way to the Avengers tower to find out what had happened to Tony. She remembered the news. Tony was said to be dead but there was no way this could be the truth. She remembered how Valerie volunteered to accompany her but she had declined. At that moment she needed to be alone. Besides, she never thought anything bad would happen. Just a few blocks, nothing more. Then there was the van she was pushed into. Before she could say anything, let alone scream, some piece of cloth was pressed against her mouth and after a few breaths, she lost consciousness. 

Everything after that felt like a blur. 

She could remember being told that Tony was alive. That she would be taken back to him and that the men who had taken her never intended to hurt her.

And then it hit her. 

The pain.

The lie she was told.

A part of her had a very good idea about what had happened before she was brought here and why she was here. Yet she hoped for a miracle when she moved her hands up to her face, more importantly, her eyes. Her fingers brushed over an at first seemingly thin piece of fabric. Moving her fingers along Mary noticed it was wrapped around her entire head. Something she hadn't noticed before. Probably because of whatever medication she was getting in order to ease any pain she might be in. 

Taking a few deep breaths Mary began to remove the fabric. As it fell onto the bed, Mary moved her hands over her cheek up to the skin close to her eyes. She could feel the difference right away the closer she got. As if something had burned into her skin. Her eyes were still closed or so she believed. Up until now, she hadn't paid much attention to whether or not her eyes were open or if she moved them. She was too focused on where she was, the fabric she had pulled away and now the scars on her face. When Mary finally focused on moving her eyes she had to realize that they were open. 

A few moments passed. 

A few rather long moments it seemed. 

It was then that Mary began to panic because there seemed to be no doubt that the incident, the attack on her, had taken her eyesight. She was blind. To her the world was dark and besides the fact, based on the noises and smells, that she was in a hospital she had no idea if she was alone. If someone sat by her side or not and even if the answer to that was yes, she wouldn't be able to see them.

“No. No, no, no, no”, she began to move in the bed. Trying to find something. A hand of someone sitting next to her, an alarm to inform the doctors. Anything. But there was nothing and all she could do was to scream for help.

~*~

Tony awoke from his slumber when he heard his sister screaming and thrashing around in the bed as she tried to get out. Since she had been admitted to the hospital he had stayed by her side. Going so far that he would refuse to leave her even if it was only to get something to eat. One of the others would volunteer to stay with Mary. Nevertheless, it was Tony who was there most of the time. He was too afraid to not be there when Mary would wake up. 

The doctors had said it might take a while. The medication didn't just help with the pain but it would also make her sleep for, well, in this case, several days. 

It had been day five. 

Five days until Tony was able to hear his sister's voice again and all he heard was her screaming. 

“Mary!” He jumped from his chair and ran to the bed. Grasping Mary's shoulders he tried to calm her down. “Mary please, just listen to my voice”, in that moment, when he was holding her, Tony felt helpless. There was nothing he could do to make things better. Yes, he could hold her, talk to her but neither could he take away her pain nor could he give her back her ability to see.

According to the doctors, the liquid which was poured over Mary’s face was a colorful mixture of a lot of things and they did everything they could. It wasn’t enough.

“I’m here Mary, I’m here”, he began to hum the same song she had hummed when he was sitting on the stairs leading up to her apartment as he rocked her back and forth. She had become quiet. No screaming, no crying. Instead, she simply wrapped her arms around Tony and pulled him into an embrace, so tight he could swear she would be able to break some of his bones. Right now he could care less about broken bones.

Moving back a little he moved his hands up to her face. She looked so different from the last time he had seen her before Christmas. Her hair was dirty and unkempt, the sheets and the hospital gown made her skin look pale as a ghost. Even after having seen her like this for the past days, he just couldn’t get used to it. And then there were the scars and her now almost lifeless looking eyes. It was as if a different person was sitting before him.

“I’m going to leave you alone for a bit to get the others, they should be in the cafeteria. Is that okay with you?”

Mary wasn’t sure what to say. Was it? Knowing he had been here at her side gave her a feeling of comfort and she was not ready to let that go. Not yet. She needed to know what had happened first before Tony would go and get anyone else. No matter how much she wanted to see them. Well, to hear their voices seemed to be more accurate. And so her answer was simple: she shook her head and pulled Tony back to hug him muttering one single word.

“Stay.”

And Tony did.

~*~

“Can’t believe she’s coming home today”, Pepper was walking around the living area, cleaning up a few little things like pillows not sitting on the couch properly. At least according to her. She couldn’t deny being nervous.

It had been roughly a week since Mary had woken up and now, finally, she was going to be released. Things would get better.

Tony and Bruce went to go and pick her up, with the rest of them waiting back at the tower. Given the situation, Mary wasn’t able to live on her own. Not at this point at least. Tony wouldn’t allow it anyway. It wasn’t only because he was worried she might hurt herself and no one being around to help her, but also because he was afraid someone would try and take her again.

It was no secret that he was blaming himself for what had happened to his sister and no matter how much Pepper or Bruce or anyone tried to tell him he was wrong, he wouldn’t listen to them. He couldn’t have known anything like this would happen. Even Mary, back at the hospital, would tell him that.

“Let’s hope she’ll actually feel like this is her home”, Natasha noticed as she watched Pepper. “This will be a big change for her.”

“I know, I know”, sighing Pepper sat down on the couch. “It feels weird to me as well. Everything I mean. A year ago I would have never imagined things would turn out like this.”

Natasha agreed with that. “Neither did I, but then again, I feel like no one would have thought that.”

Looking around the room Natasha spotted Clint, Steve and Valerie standing on the balcony. Clint had picked up Valerie so she could be here to welcome her friend but despite looking forward to that, it was clear she didn’t necessarily like being here. Shortly after Mary had been brought to the hospital Valerie had been here to help with furnishing Mary’s new home. It felt so weird to her. Realizing there was no way they could continue to work together or have movie nights made her sad. She still wanted to be there for Mary whenever she needed her. They were friends after all. And yet, she felt out of place here.

It was then Natasha realized something:

Mary and Valerie had known each other for longer than anyone else here had known Mary, and Natasha included Tony in that because when he finally got to know his sister, she was already friends with Valerie. Both women were similar and while Mary never said it out loud, she felt out of place just as much as Valerie. It were subtle things which told Natasha that. Small remarks about how this place was too big and you could get lost. That it didn’t feel comfortable and when asked what she meant by that, she would say that she couldn’t imagine getting up in a place like this and spend the day in her sleepwear. Or lounging around. There weren’t enough personal items, as she put it, to make this place feel like a home.

To her, it had more of an office vibe.

And so, even with Tony trying his best and asking Valerie for help, this place would never be Mary’s home. No matter how much Pepper or she wished it would be.

All they could do was try their best.

But would that be enough?

~*~

It didn’t take long after arriving at the tower on that day and Mary felt overwhelmed.

Everyone tried their best to help her, make her feel welcome. The little party they had to welcome her was nice, she couldn’t deny that. There was soft music and food. Valerie was at her side most of the time, talking about how things at work had gotten a little bit chaotic. Andrew had to work more often now and didn’t seem to like that.

But while Valerie was talking to her, Mary couldn’t simply ignore the other conversations. She wasn’t sure whether or not it was because she couldn’t use her eyes, all she knew was that they distracted her. The hospital room had been so quiet compared to this. The second she had the chance she asked Tony if he could take her to her room. That she felt exhausted and wanted to sleep a bit.

Saying her goodbyes to the rest of the group, Mary let Tony guide her.

He didn’t say a word, not until they reached her room.

“I hope you like it. Valerie helped a lot with this. We brought all of your things and, well, I had workers rearrange things so this is just like your apartment.”

Mary heard the door open and just seconds after that the familiar smell of her home filled her nose. Taking a cautious step forward, with Tony having a hand on her back, her hand moved to the right side of the entrance. Sure enough her fingers traced along a familiar cupboard with a bowl that usually held her keys. On her left side, she could feel fabric. More specifically her jackets. The further she went inside the more she could tell this was indeed just like her apartment. Tony hadn’t been lying.

Turning around Mary grabbed Tony’s hand as he moved it away from her back. “Thank you”, she smiled. “I... I appreciate this more than you might think. I’m just not the best person to express this so”, she stepped closer and hugged Tony. “Thank you is all I can say at this moment.”

“You’re welcome. It’s the least I can do. At least, that is, until I figure out how to build something so you’ll be able to see”, he felt Mary pulling away from him.

“Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“Try to change things”, she moved her hands over his arms and up to his face. “Everything happens for a reason right?”

Tony raised an eyebrow. “Who says that?”

“Lots of people”, Mary smiled. “Please don’t blame yourself.”

“Kind of hard to do. If I had listened none of this would have happened”, he was sure of that. Through talking with Mary he had found out that one of the kidnappers had talked to her a little. In his mind, there was no doubt it was the same who had tried to warn him. And Mary herself had told him that the one person who talked to her, had said that it wasn’t their intention to hurt her.

What had been done to her had been out of spite. Because of him, and it didn’t matter how much Mary or anyone else would tell him it wasn’t so.

“Listen to me, will you?”

Tony was quiet for a couple of seconds. “Alright.”

“I can’t imagine how you feel right now and obviously, even though I tell you it’s not your fault, you don’t seem to care but please, this whole situation with this”, she motioned towards her eyes. “It’s going to be hard, I don’t want to play this down but right now, all I want and all I need is for you being here. Can you do that?”

“Of course”, stepping closer, Tony gave his sister a kiss on the forehead. “Just call me and I’ll be there. That reminds me”, he moved back. “Jarvis?”

“Yes sir”, his voice filled the room, surprising Mary a little.

“Since my sister is going to live with us I want you to help her if she asks for something. Same clearance level as me since she basically is me, just younger and female”, there was the slightest of smiles audible in his voice and Mary couldn’t help herself but smile as well.

“Of course sir.”

“Good. That makes me feel a little better. Now you”, he pointed at Mary, completely oblivious that she wasn’t able to see. “Promise to call if you need anything okay?”

“I will, I promise”, with that Mary turned away and took a few more steps forward. Tony watched her intently. While she moved slowly he could clearly tell that she knew her old home by heart. At that moment, however short it was, he could forget the events that lead to her living here.

Using her hands Mary found another cupboard and smiled. “You really put a lot of effort in this so it looks like my apartment huh?”, she traced the top of it only to find several small trinkets she had collected over the years.

“Valerie helped a lot with it”, Tony admitted. “She took pictures and moved several things which I believe you wouldn’t be too comfortable with me moving them but overall, yes, we tried our best to put everything where it was to make it easier for you to navigate.”

“Thanks. That reminds me if everything is where it was”, she walked over to where her wardrobe would be and sure enough she found it. Opening the sliding doors she knelt down and went to search for a bag she had placed there a while ago. “Ah, there it is!”, Mary exclaimed as soon as she grabbed it. Turning back to where she thought Tony was, she held out the bag for him to take. “These are the Christmas presents I got for you. I hope you like them.”

Tony was surprised. He hadn’t seen the bag so far. The wardrobe? That was one of the things he let Valerie take care of. Taking the bag he looked at the two wrapped packages inside. “Well, now I feel bad because I don’t have anything for you. Not that I didn’t have in the first place but the whole explosion..”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll think about something you can get me.”

“Of course you will.”

“Anyway, I’d like to get some sleep. I… appreciate everything you did Tony. This room or apartment, however you want to call it. Being with me and having that little welcome party but it has been a little too much for me today.”

It was more than fine with Tony. The welcome party as Mary called it hadn’t felt right anyway. Hell, Tony wouldn’t even call that a party and if he would have turned it into one by inviting dozens of people, Mary probably wouldn’t have liked it anyway. She had looked overwhelmed by just having seven people around her she knew. Wishing Mary a good night, Tony left the room and made his way back to the living area upstairs.

Upon arriving he found that Natasha and Valerie weren’t around. Clint mentioned that Valerie had decided to leave as she had to work the next day and Natasha volunteered to make sure she would get home safely. The last thing any of them needed was yet another missing person.

At one point during the rest of the evening, Natasha had returned at that time, everyone went their own way which essentially meant they all went to bed.

When Pepper retired for the night she had asked Tony to come as well, but he said that he wanted to stay up a few minutes longer. Pepper gave him a long look before deciding to leave it at that. It didn’t stop her from telling him not to stay up too late.

After Tony was sure no one else was around, he walked to sit on the couch and look at the presents inside the bag Mary had given him. One of the presents was way smaller than the other and had a little note attached to it. It definitely drew more attention from Tony which was why he picked it up first. Opening the note he read the text written down.

‘ _Merry Christmas! I hope you like the present. It’s a bit cheesy but figured you deserve it even though Valerie might disagree. Not sure if I told you but I’m glad to be here. I love you._ '

Smiling to himself, Tony began to unwrap the present and when he opened the box, he found a mug saying ‘Best Brother in the World’. Definitely cheesy but he couldn’t deny being happy it, even though he didn’t feel like he deserved this. He had a long way to get to that point. Being the best brother. Hopefully he would have enough time to grow into the person Mary was already seeing in him.

Putting the mug to the side, Tony pulled the other present from the bag to look at it. It was a lot larger and heavier. Opening it Tony stared at it for several minutes.

It was a photo album. Just like the ones Mary had showed him weeks ago. Flipping through the pages he saw photos of her as a kid, together with her mother but not only that. There were pictures of him, there was even one of his parents. Pictures he didn’t even know existed anymore. Then there were newer ones too. Of him and Pepper, the rest of the Avengers and Mary. He indistinctly remembered the day those had been taken and realized that Pepper had helped to pull this off.

The last picture in the book, though clearly not the last page, was of him and Mary together and another note was written under it:

‘ _To more memories together. Let's make this our first family photo album._ ’

Looking at the picture Tony could feel tears forming in his eyes.

He wanted to make those memories Mary dreamt of. Fill the rest of the pages with pictures of their adventures together. But now, even if they would take pictures, Mary would never be able to look at them.

And he would never stop blaming himself.


	9. The One with the Visitors

“Jarvis?”

“Yes, Miss?”

“Okay, first, call me Mary. I’d prefer that”, Mary was sitting on her bed. Which seemed kind of weird given that this wasn’t her initial home to begin with. It still felt and also smelt like it though. Tony and Valerie had done a great job. After Tony had left Mary alone, she had fallen asleep within minutes. Now she was awake again but she needed help. “Second: I have no idea what time it is and I would like something to eat. I don’t want to wake anyone up if it’s the middle of the night so… I guess there’s something edible in the kitchen but I need you to guide me.”

“I’ll try my best to do so. As for the time, you did sleep for several hours, by now it is 4.39 am.”

That time wasn’t too bad. Mary figured that someone would be awake in about 2 hours from now. Until then she guessed Jarvis would keep her company. “Thank you. And sorry you have to look out for me.”

“It’s no problem, Mary. Besides, I would get into a lot of trouble with your brother if I wouldn’t help you.”

Maybe that was true, though Mary wasn’t sure what one would do to get an AI in trouble or even teach them a lesson. Would you just turn it off? “I doubt Tony would do that. Though I have to admit you have known him for longer than me.”

“That might be true. Given the recent events, I think you’re aware he would do a lot to protect you.”

“Mhm”, nodding in thought Mary got up from the bed and made her way to her bathroom. She was walking slow, her hands moving along the walls to make sure she didn’t walk into something. “Could you, I don’t know, keep an eye on him? Make sure he’s not doing anything dumb?” Mary found herself using the light switch only to realize that it didn’t change anything. Some habits wouldn’t die that easily obviously.

“If you want me to, of course. Tony gave you his clearance level after all.”

Grabbing her toothbrush Mary tilted her head to the side. “What does ‘his’ clearance level entail anyway?”, she asked and then began to brush her teeth as Jarvis explained it to her.

Tony’s clearance level basically translated to: you can do whatever you want and go wherever you want.

For some reason, Mary felt like this was not what Tony had intended to do last night. Yes, some kind of clearance level would be of an advantage to move through the different rooms and floors but this was clearly more than she needed. She didn’t need to go to the lab or the workshop. Not that she was going to complain. Who knew, maybe at one point it would turn out to be a good thing.

After brushing her teeth and making herself a bit more presentable, Mary walked to the front door of her room and opened it before stepping outside. “Okay Jarvis, time to guide me.”

“I will do my best to do so”, and that was exactly what Jarvis did. 

Using her hands to touch the wall of the hallway, Mary followed Jarvis’s words. The left way lead to the elevator, the right way to a few more rooms, though, according to Jarvis, they weren’t in use right now. Making a mental note Mary wondered if she would be able to ‘claim’ some of those for herself. Maybe have a small gym so she could do something in her free time. Because Mary figured she would have a lot of it.

There were other things she wanted to do. One was to get a layout of the place. She never was good at remembering things easy so this would take a while and she had no idea how to approach it. Her own room? That was easy to know by heart. She had lived at the apartment for months. Yes, that didn’t stop her from running into furniture every once in a while but overall she remembered how everything looked. Here, in the tower, she barely remembered the living area, the kitchen. It would take time to memorize everything. But she wanted to learn.

She had to.

The easiest part about getting to the kitchen was the elevator ride. She didn’t have to move during that. Getting to the elevator was pretty straightforward too but getting out of it and to the kitchen? That was a different thing. And even with Jarvis’s help, she moved very slowly and still ran into things. Mostly because there seemed to be stuff all over the place.

A box of something in one place, dirty dishes on the counter.

Jarvis couldn’t tell her everything. She didn’t expect him to either. Over time she would have the layout memorized but all the little extra things that would change constantly? That wouldn’t work. She needed the others to help her with that. Time would tell if that would work or not.

Right now all she needed was something to drink and eat. Following Jarvis’s words, it became easy to find the fridge and get her hands on a little snack. That would have to be enough until the rest of the people woke up and made breakfast. She also needed something to drink and so, after finding a glass without breaking anything in the process and asking Jarvis if there was any juice in the fridge, she followed what Jarvis said once more.

“Thank you for helping me”, Mary said as she began to open the bottle.

“You’re welcome.”

At that moment Mary heard the elevator door open, then a few steps and the familiar voice of her brother.

“You’re awake? It’s 5 am, you should sleep.”

“You’re one to talk”, she put the bottle back down. “Why are you up?”

Tony shrugged. “Guess I couldn’t sleep. Not that I didn’t sleep but, you know.”

“Bad dreams?”

“In a way yes, but don’t worry”, he stepped closer to his sister, fiddling with a small item in his hands. Looking at Mary he noticed how she turned her attention away from him and focused on pouring herself something to drink. Tony was ready to offer his help only to refrain from it. He watched as Mary put a finger inside the glass and began to pour. The whole process looked a bit clumsily, but he could tell she was determined to do this on her own. “The dreams aren’t as bad anymore. I’ve actually told Pepper about them and I guess, just like telling you about them, it helped a little. Knowing there’s someone at my side… it’s nice.”

Feeling the liquid touch her finger, Mary put the bottle down and closed it again. “That’s great to hear. I’m glad you took that step.”

“Me too. By the way, I made something for you.”

“Tony.”

“It’s not what you think. It’s a necklace.”

“A necklace?” 

“Yes, not a standard one but… just turn around”, it would be easier to explain once he had given it to her.

Turning her back to the direction Tony’s voice originated from, Mary waited for Tony to, at least that’s what she guessed, put on the necklace for her. And sure enough, after hearing him step closer it did only take seconds before she felt his hands on the back of her neck as he closed the clasp. The material felt a little cold at first and she was surprised about how long the necklace seemed to be.

Moving her hand up she traced the chain until she reached the pendant. It felt like a simple rectangular piece with an indent and, what she guessed, some kind of stone in the middle.

“I tried to make it look nice”, he took a step back as Mary turned around. “It’s basically just a silver necklace with a stone in it. You didn’t strike me as the gold type so I hope you’re fine with silver.”

There was the slightest smile visible on Mary’s lips. “If you couldn’t tell by now, I’m neither type. Jewelry isn’t my thing. Aside from when it’s a special occasion.”

“Well, this necklace is the special occasion. It’s… let’s call it a panic button.”

“Panic button?”

“I can’t be around all the time and the last thing I want is that something else happens to you. So, when you push in the part with the stone I get a signal that you’re in trouble and will be on my way as fast as I can”, hell, he wasn’t going to let anything else happen to Mary. He would prevent that and the necklace or the panic button as he had named it, was a good start for that. “It is connected to Jarvis and has a GPS. Just in case. I hope you won’t need it.”

“Me too. May I ask what kind of stone it is?”

“A ruby”, he watched Mary raise an eyebrow. “7th of July right? Rubies are supposed to be the birthstone for that month. Not that I have any idea about that. Plus the color kind of matches my suits. Would’ve looked better with the gold though.”

“Aren’t rubies expensive?”

“Depends. Listen, I wanted to make you something nice and..”

Mary stopped him. “I’m happy”, Tony just stared at her. “I didn’t want to offend you. I would have been fine with any stone, even a fake one. I’m not able to see it anyway and for a panic button this seems to be a little over the top.”

“Just a little. I wanted it to look nice. Only the best for you, after all, I was recently announced being the best big brother”, as he said that, Tony grabbed the mug from the cupboard where he had placed it yesterday and tapped against it. “Gonna have to make sure I’ll live up to that. Even if Valerie disagrees for some reason.”

“You should have an idea why that is. By the way Tony?”

“Yeah?”, he barely paid attention as he got himself some coffee.

“You remember how last night you said you didn’t have any Christmas presents for me?”

Looking into her direction he nodded. “Sounds like you actually have something in mind I can get you.”

“Kind of”, she fiddled with the necklace he had given her just minutes prior. If Tony was able to build this, he wouldn’t have a problem with her request. “Could you make something for me? Like… mhm, an earplug or something like that so Jarvis can talk to me without using the speaker system?”

Tony raised an eyebrow. “So that only you can hear him?” The answer he got was a simple nod. “What? You guys having secrets already?”, he laughed.

“No, I just figured it would be a good thing. Right now, at least until I have this place memorized, I need Jarvis to guide me. I figured it’ll be easier if he only talks to me to do so without bothering you guys.”

That actually was a good idea. Why hadn’t he thought of that? The only thing Tony cared about at this point was to keep Mary safe. Hence the panic button. But over making that he completely pushed back the fact that she wasn’t able to move through here as she did in her room. Hell, he didn’t even question how she had made it into the kitchen without tearing down things left and right.

“Of course I can do that, it’s no big deal but definitely not worthy to be a present of any kind.”

“I’m aware of that”, Mary noted. “Listen, I… I don’t want to bother you or anyone else with helping me. I feel like I’m already bothering Jarvis if I’m honest. I told you that I don’t want you to try and make anything so I can see again. Not only because it’s my decision but also because I feel like there are enough things you have to worry about”, he was still Iron Man after all. Who knew when the next invasion, alien or men, would come. “Keep others safe. I’ll be able to handle myself.”

“I have to say, I didn’t expect you to handle things like you do. I mean, you certainly don’t seem to be bothered by this a lot”, unlike him. Sleepless nights because of aliens and the fear of not being able to save his friends was one thing. Sleepless nights because he wasn’t there to help his sister when she was in danger another.

What Tony didn’t know was that Mary was bothered by the new circumstances but even though she tried to not let it show. Don’t make Tony worry more than he already does. That was her goal. That was why she needed Jarvis to help her. If she was able to memorize this place, maybe get a cane to move around outside and learn how to read braille, she could, at one point, live on her own again. Both, Tony and her, would be able to live their own lives without being worried or dependent on the other one.

“Just trying to make the best out of it and adapt to the situation. You know, mum and I had to do so during our travels. We didn’t always have the comfort of being in a place with a lot of tourists. We didn’t have comfy beds, sometimes there weren’t people who understood us or the other way around. So you find other ways. And right now”, Mary, grabbing the glass of water with one hand, began to walk around the counter. While she did so, she used her other hand as a guide. Feeling where the counter ended and she had to take a turn. “I want to find this other way. Which technically means that there is something else you and the others could do.”

“And what would that be?”

“I’ll tell you once everyone is awake and we’re having breakfast.”

“Mhm”, Tony continued to make himself a coffee. “Breakfast sounds great. I’m gonna make my world-famous scrambled eggs.”

“Let’s see how world-famous those will be when you burn them. Just so you know: my nose is still working perfectly fine.”

Mary ignored Tony’s complaint and, after grabbing the apple she had put on the counter earlier and with the help of Jarvis, walked to the couch where she sat down and tried to find a comfortable position. Tony joined her after his coffee was ready. Together they sat there. Tony enjoying his coffee while watching the sun illuminate the world outside and Mary drinking her water and eating the apple. There wasn’t a lot of talking at this point. While Mary was quite awake, Tony sure wasn’t. He had spent a long part of the night with finishing the necklace. It had been a side project he started after Mary woke up at the hospital and he felt okay with leaving her there by herself or with someone else.

Last night he had tested if it worked properly. Now the lack of sleep was catching up to him and before he knew it, he rested his head on Mary’s shoulder and closed his eyes, asking her to tell him a story.

Complying with his request, Mary began to talk about the first journey her and her mother took that she could actually remember. At one point she heard Tony snoring and could tell he was out. Smiling to herself she rested her own head on his.

“Sleep well.”

~*~

Six weeks and a death anniversary later, March was just around the corner.

A lot of things had changed at the tower.

One, the repairs were done leaving no signs of the attack. The interior did look different from before. Tony had made several adjustments. That did not only mean Mary’s apartment but also bedrooms for the others, which were now all finished and every so often everyone was around, breathing life into these walls.

Fury stopped by once in a while with different assignments. Some for only a few of them, others for all. That led to Mary being left alone.

Pepper and Valerie tended to stop by during those days to keep her company, but with both of them having their own jobs and lives, it wasn’t always possible.

Which led to point two that had changed:

Mary had time. A lot of it.

When no one was around she would ‘explore’ the tower. Let Jarvis take notes for her on how many steps it was from her room to the elevator or from the elevator to the couch once she reached the floor with the living area. She would deliberately count her steps. At first, given that she was alone, loud but eventually only to herself. Sometimes she would ask Jarvis about it. Saying a number and asking if she had that memorized right.

Every so often she found herself not using the earplug Tony had made her. Jarvis would still be able to talk to her without it if there was a need for it.

It had become significantly easier for her to navigate through the rooms.

And everyone else helped her with that.

She had asked Tony and the others to not leave stuff everywhere. Put their dishes away, don’t move things around in the room, the fridge or the cupboards. She knew where everything was. Mostly. The cupboard was the easiest thing as she had her own. The fridge could get challenging when everyone was here and people just took things out and put them in without keeping in mind what she had asked them to do. Mary didn’t blame them.

Clint had noticed that the better she got at memorizing her surroundings, the easier it was for them to forget she couldn’t see. That also made it easier for them to leave her on her own without worrying if or what could happen.

So it was no wonder Mary had been home alone for five days at this point.

She was still torn about whether or not she liked being alone at the tower. Tony could get a little too protective. He would follow her around, same went for the others. They would stand up when she did so, ask if she needed help. Mary was aware they didn’t mean anything bad by it. Just like with them forgetting she couldn’t see the open package of milk on the counter and thus knocking it over, they sometimes forgot she was a 27-year-old woman and not a child. Yes, she would run into things, especially in the beginning but it was part of learning how to navigate. She was fine with a few bruises if that meant she would eventually be able to live on her own again.

But the others, especially Tony, made it seem as if that wasn’t an option anymore.

When the first mission arrived and she was left alone with Jarvis, Mary was happy about having a little bit of freedom for those days. It felt good but with more and more missions in those few weeks since moving here, she began to feel alone. She had too much time to think and would be happy once Jarvis would put through her brothers call, telling her that they were on their way back home. 

She was waiting for that right now as well.

Her mother's death anniversary had been hard but she had people around her. They kept her occupied. Kept her thoughts occupied. There was no one around to do so now and while it was nice to talk to Jarvis, it became boring after some time and allowed her to think about the kidnapping. Mary was glad Tony had made the necklace because the more time she had to herself, the more paranoid she got. Not that anyone was able to get inside the tower without Jarvis noticing it.

Same went for getting out of the tower.

Mary had tried that. Not deliberately. Valerie had stopped by one day and without thinking anything bad about it they had left to tower to get a coffee somewhere that wasn’t the Avengers kitchen. Too bad that the second Mary and Valerie opened the front door and went their way, a silent alarm went off and Tony was contacted right away. The two women were waiting for their order, Valerie keeping an eye on her friend constantly, when a loud noise from outside the coffee shop caught everyone’s attention.

Tony, wherever he had been before, had come back to New York right away. His suit was parked on the sidewalk as he stormed inside ready to break Mary free if need be.

Tony’s clearance level might have translated to ‘You can go anywhere you want’ but it wasn’t true at all.

After that day, she didn’t even try to leave anymore.

Eventually, she would talk to Tony about that. That she couldn’t stay here all the time. And until then it was her and Jarvis against the boredom. Music was a good way to pass time, so were audiobooks. 

Mary had been listening to one since last night but now hunger made her leave her room. While she did have a kitchen, she wasn’t going to use it. Not yet anyway. Besides she remembered there were leftovers of stuffed bell peppers Valerie had brought over for her. It was time for lunch anyway and so, after a few minutes of walking and taking the elevator, Mary had made her way from her room downstairs, up to the main area.

Walking over to the fridge she opened it and grabbed the container which she thought was the one she was looking for. Opening it she smelled if it was the right one and indeed it was. Moving her hand to the door of the fridge to close it, a voice caught her off guard. One she hadn’t heard before.

“You must be a new member. I’m..”

The man didn’t get any further.

The voice came from behind her and she could tell there was a little distance between her and the stranger. Out of reflex she threw the container, began to run straight for the stairs because those would be faster than waiting for the elevator and never stopped. Did Jarvis know someone was in here? Did Tony know?

Remembering the necklace Mary grabbed it and pushed the part with the stone in.

While Mary stumbled down the stairs to get away from whoever was inside, Thor, after having caught the container, turned to Loki who was standing near the couch and couldn’t help but to be amused by the scene he had just witnessed.

“If I’m not mistaken your words before we came here were ‘Humans love me’. I didn’t see much love there”, with that Loki sat down on the couch, waiting for things to happen. He didn’t want to be here. This whole thing had been Thor’s idea and given that Odin had agreed, all the God of Mischief could hope for was that Thor’s friends as he called them, would not agree with letting him stay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They're here. Let the chaos begin. ;)
> 
> Thanks for the reviews, I'm glad you enjoy reading this story.
> 
> I'm currently on vacation and try to work through several things I've pushed to the side for weeks because I didn't feel like bothering with them. I'm trying to make time for writing in between, so I might be able to post another chapter soon.


	10. The One with the Vote

When he got the alarm Tony was in mid-flight and it caught him off guard.

Mary had pressed the panic button for the first time. She hadn’t even tried it out to see if it worked or how when he gave it to her. She trusted Tony enough to know that it did. That was all. And now, something had happened that caused her to use it.

“Jarvis? What is going on?”

“I’m sorry Sir. Thor and his brother have arrived at the tower unexpectedly. I didn’t warn Mary and Thor startled her, causing her to run off.”

“Run off?”

As if on cue another alarm went off: the front door had been opened.

Great. If Mary was outside of the tower Jarvis wouldn’t be able to contact her, neither was he. “Jarvis, call Happy. He should be close by”, that said he turned his attention to Natasha and Steve who were both with him. “As much as I enjoy spending time with you, I need to get back to New York. You two wrap this up and make your way back as well. It seems Thor has just come back and decided to bring his brother along.”

“Loki?”, Steve was surprised to hear that. While he was somewhat happy to see Thor and talk to him again, he wasn’t looking forward to seeing Loki. There had to be a reason why he was here now. When Thor had taken Loki and the Tesseract back to Asgard he seemed keen on not letting his brother lose on the world again. Loki had done too much damage and, going by what they were told, would face the punishment of Odin.

It had been almost a year since then.

No one knew what exactly happened so everything was a wild guess. Seemed like they were about to find out.

“I’ll see you at the tower.”

With that Steve and Natasha watched as Tony flew away. They didn’t intend to argue with him. Even if this wasn’t a kidnapping and there was no imminent danger, Thor didn’t know about Mary and no one believed it was his intention to scare her, she had fled. They were able to hear Tony's side as he talked to Jarvis while they had taken out a group of about ten people hiding out in an abandoned warehouse in Peru. Bruce and Clint were in Boston gathering information on a different ‘case’ at this moment. Both jobs probably were connected in some way though. 

Nick Fury had sent the three of them here because he believed the people hiding in the warehouse were part of Hydra.

“Let’s do as Tony said and wrap this up”, Natasha turned her attention to a couple of crates and folders on a table. It appeared that Fury had been right about this being some kind of Hydra hideout. There wasn’t a lot but still enough. Fury could send someone else to take care of their findings, the Hydra agents were secured and wouldn’t be able to get away anymore. Natasha doubted they had backup in the close vicinity. That was the reason she didn’t worry about leaving without waiting for S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to arrive.

“I’ll contact Bruce and Clint, can you start up the jet?”

Nodding at Steve, Natasha took a last look around to make sure everything was in order before making her way to the jet. In the background, she could hear Steve’s voice as he talked to either Bruce or Clint. She couldn’t tell for sure.

Sitting down in the pilots' seat, Natasha went through her usual routine when she flew the Quinjet herself. The first thing she did before that however, was to contact Fury and tell him they were finished, sort of. She also informed him about the fact Thor had come back to earth and that he brought Loki along. Fury didn’t sound too pleased.

When Thor had returned to Asgard he had told everyone that Loki would be punished according to Asgardian law. Which translated to ‘our father will take care of that’. They could tell that Thor was both upset and disappointed with his brother, and from what he had said, his father wouldn’t go easy on Loki. He never went easy on anyone. Thor had told them about how he was stripped of his powers and banished to earth. All thanks to his brother who had pulled all the strings he could for that to happen.

It seemed to be a theme.

The question now was if Loki being on earth had been his plan or someone else's.

Either way, they had to keep their eyes open.

~*~

The loud noises outside the tower felt overwhelming. There were voices, cars driving up and down the street, music from stores and cafés. New York had always been loud to Mary, especially when she compared it to other places she had stayed. But when you can see where certain noises come from, it can give you a feeling of comfort. Knowing that there are people around can make you feel comfortable. Right now the one feeling that took a hold of her was fear.

Fear of being lost. Fear of having no one to help her.

The people out here didn’t know her, didn’t know she couldn’t see them and thus wouldn’t take that into account when walking past her. Mary was shoved to the side as someone bumped into her, very probably not paying attention or thinking she would move. She didn’t bother yelling at them or anyone for that matter. There was this short moment where she thought about trying to get someone’s attention. Ask them to call someone. Valerie, Pepper.

Then she remembered the panic button. She had pressed it but nothing had happened. At least nothing she knew of and so she couldn’t tell if it actually worked or not. Grabbing the necklace Mary pressed the button once again. She could feel the button ‘click’. But that was it. No confirmation if Tony had gotten the signal. Mary couldn’t ask Jarvis about it either as she hadn’t taken the earplug with her. Why didn’t he warn her anyway?

Did he forget to do it?

She thought no one was able to get inside the tower beside the Avengers, Pepper, Nick Fury and herself. Well, she already was inside but before everything, she would do so and simply come and go as she pleased.

Stepping to the side and away from the noise of the cars, Mary put her hand out and eventually her fingers met with the cool surface of what she thought to be a window. Leaning against it she tried to control her breath. The longer she was out here, the more the fear inside her came to the surface. It reminded her of waking up in the hospital. Being in the dark, not knowing if someone was there. And while people were here it was so very different. They were strangers. All of them.

‘It’s going to be okay. Tony will come and get you.’

That thought raced through her head the entire time she leaned against the window.

Minutes passed when a voice to her left called out.

“Hey! Can I help you?”, there was a pause. The male voice sounded a little angered. “You’ve been leaning against the window of my store for a while now.”

“I’m sorry. It wasn’t my intention to do so.”

“You sure don’t seem to be bothered to do something about it.”

Mary knew she had to move. She didn’t want to piss this man off, he already seemed to be angry at her but she didn’t want to make things worse. Turning away from him, Mary moved in the other direction, her hand lingering on the glass for guidance until it came into touch with concrete. Stopping for a second she gathered her thoughts. Should she continue to walk?

The man spoke up again. “You sure you don’t need help?”

For some reason, he didn’t sound too pleased. Having to help her probably would be a bother to him.

Great. Mary now wasn’t a liability for Tony alone, but also for random people on the street as well. Contemplating her choices she was ready to answer the man when the screeching of tires caught her attention. Several other people reacted to it as well. Most of them wondering what this was about and complaining about this ‘lunatic’ being allowed to drive a car in the first place.

“Mary?”

The voice was unfamiliar, yet the way the man spoke her name made it sound as if he knew her. Given the fact he knew her name, it was no surprise. Mary turned her head into the direction. She felt someone grab her arm carefully. The smell of aftershave hit her nose and she sensed the man stepping even closer to her.

“Who are you?”, she asked.

“I’m Happy. I got a call from Tony telling me you had run away and pushing some kind of panic button? I’m not sure what he meant by that but”, that was how far Happy got before Mary interrupted him.

“Where is he?”

Happy smiled. “On his way. I’m here to take you back to the Avengers tower and wait with you until he arrives. I can call him if you like, or Pepper if you’d prefer that”, he said.

It was the first time Happy was seeing Mary in person if he didn’t count the one time he went to check on Tony as he stayed at the hospital. He had seen the young woman asleep in the bed then. It was a different sight though even now she appeared to be a little pale.

“I..”, Mary was unsure what to say. Something told her not to go with this Happy person as she didn’t know him but on the other hand she wasn’t getting a bad vibe from him. And he knew Tony and Pepper. There was also the fact he knew about the panic button. Why would Tony tell that someone he didn’t trust? “I just want to go home but… someone came into the tower”, that was another thing to worry about. Did Happy know?

Nodding, Happy put his second hand on her shoulder and steered her away from the shop window and the owner who was giving them a more questioning look than before. Happy couldn't tell if it was because of how he had arrived or if he heard the words that were spoken. “I was told about that but don’t worry. It’s Thor and his brother, they sure didn’t mean anything bad but they haven’t been on earth in a while so they haven’t heard about you.”

Thor and his brother?

Mary had heard the name before. He had been part of the fight against the aliens. He was part of the Avengers and that was about everything Mary knew about him. Based on that fact, Mary had the feeling Thor did know nothing about her. Thinking back to the moment right before she threw the food container at him, she remembered him noticing that she had to be a new member. He was a stranger to her just like she was to him. And then there was his brother? Mary hadn’t heard a second voice when she ran and there had been no other sounds that indicated someone else was in the room either.

But that was beside the point.

During her stay at the tower Clint, beside Tony and Steve, had become the third person she talked to the most. Mary had asked everyone about the fight at one point. Without trying to mention how Tony had nightmares about it, she wanted to find out how everyone else was doing. Clint had told her that the whole thing felt weird to him. He was missing a lot of things from that time since he had been under the influence of some kind of spell as he described it before the aliens came. He had told her that it was Thor’s brother who did it.

That was the point where he would usually stop talking about it.

Mary had asked Natasha. Given that she was Clint’s best friend, Mary assumed she had more insight on this whole mind controlling thing. She didn’t say a lot, only that he couldn’t remember what he did during the time his mind wasn’t his own. She also mentioned that he had hurt people and there was a high chance he would blame himself for a long time because of it. If he had been more careful or faster, things could have been different. That was what he wanted to believe.

“He blames himself. Thinks that if things had played out differently none of what followed would have happened.”

Why was the person responsible for Clint feeling like this, for the whole attack and Mary almost losing her brother, back in New York?

~*~

“Jarvis, where is Mary?”, Tony asked as he landed on the balcony and stepped out of his suit.

“Mary and Happy are in the elevator right now. They should arrive on the floor shortly.”

“Thank you”, stepping inside the room he let out a sigh of relief. Knowing Mary was fine and taken care of allowed him to breathe for a second. At least until his eyes found Loki sitting on the couch as if it was the most natural thing ever.

The black-haired man simply looked at Tony, a little grin plastered on his lips. “Look who it is, the man of iron. It’s been quite a while. I still haven’t gotten my drink.”

Ignoring the comment, Tony walked further into the room. “Where’s Thor? I was told he would be here.”

“I believe he’s in the kitchen.”

Keeping an eye on Loki, Tony stepped around the rest of the furniture which was in his way and walked closer to the kitchen where, just like Loki had said, he saw Thor rummaging through the fridge. “Thor”, upon hearing his name the God of Thunder turned around. “Looking for something in particular?”

“It’s good to see you my friend”, closing the fridge Thor walked towards Tony. “I was just looking for something to drink. Your fridge is way more organized than the last time I was here.”

“Things have changed”, Tony answered as Thor gave him a pat on the shoulder. “It’s been a while since you’ve been here. Or called, or whatever you do to talk to people who don’t live in..”, he paused a handful of seconds as he thought about it. “Asgard, right?” The answer Tony got was a smile and a nod. It was hard for him to fathom what Asgard was like, where exactly it was or how to get there. ‘A realm of the gods’ Thor had once said. “To be honest, I expected you to stop by sooner and more importantly without your brother. So, why is he here?”

Before Thor was able to answer and explain why he had brought Loki along, the elevator door opened and two people stepped out. One the woman who had run of earlier when he had approached her, the other a man he was seeing for the first time. While the woman made several more steps into the room, the man stayed behind her. She still looked a little spooked. It made Thor feel bad. Scaring off a fellow Avenger. Not a good start.

An apology was needed.

Seeing Mary safe and sound allowed Tony to breathe a sigh of relief.

“Mary”, Tony exclaimed with audible relief as he ran up to her and embraced her. Forgotten were Thor and Loki who were now looking at him, Mary and Happy, who stood back watching the whole exchange. “I’m glad to see you’re okay”, stepping back, his hands on her shoulders, he looked at her face. She was giving him a soft smile. One that almost felt forced as if she wanted to reassure him that everything was fine. As his eyes drifted to her necklace he couldn’t help but smile himself. “I was hoping you would never have to use it. I’m just glad it wasn’t anything bad.”

Mary chuckled. “If you don’t count in me being lost on the street. Never thought that I would find that scary”, she moved her hand to grab Tony’s. “I honestly can’t thank you enough for the necklace.”

“No need”, turning his attention to Happy, Tony stepped away from Mary. “Thanks, Happy, I appreciate you coming when I called.”

“Of course”, he replied.

While the two men talked, Thor moved closer to Mary. His intention was to apologize and to introduce himself properly. The closer he got the more he was able to take in her appearance, see her face. When she had thrown the box of food at him earlier and ran away he wasn’t able to do so. Her black hair was put together in a ponytail. She was wearing blue jeans and a shirt with, what he assumed to be, a name for something printed on it. It looked more like a shirt Tony would wear and given that it was a little loose, that actually might have been where she got it from. Tony’s reaction when she arrived was enough to tell him they were close.

Extending his hand he gave the woman a large smile. “I’m sorry for startling you earlier. I’m Thor, it’s nice to meet you”, as she moved her eyes to meet his Thor noticed that the color of her eyes seemed dulled and now, being closer to her, made him notice what appeared to be scars on her face, which she had tried to cover up. When she didn’t take his hand, Thor withdrew it.

“It’s okay. I didn’t expect anyone to come here”, Jarvis had apologized for not telling her about Thor and his brother when she entered the tower again. Mary brushed it off, telling Jarvis that even if he had tried to tell her about the person who had appeared behind her being a friend while she was running away, she wouldn’t have listened to him in her panic. “I’m Mary. Patterson. Tony’s sister.”

Hearing the woman tell him that she was related to Tony was the last thing Thor had expected. “I didn’t know Tony had a sister.”

“None of us did.”

Turning around Thor spotted the rest of the Avengers walking in through a door in the back. Natasha, who had talked, was the first in the row, followed by Clint, Bruce and Steve. He could see them giving Loki a long glance. It didn’t surprise him one bit. He was welcomed with open arms, everyone was happy to see him back in New York, no doubt about that. But it looked very different when it came to Loki. Thor had expected it, so did Loki. There was no ‘Welcome back’ or ‘It’s good to see you’. Hell would freeze over before someone would say that to the God of Mischief.

Well, there was Frigga. She loved Loki unconditionally and despite what he had done and how many people had died because of his actions, she believed there was something good in him. And Thor wanted to believe that as well. The memories of their childhood still vivid before his eyes. He was fine to ignore the little tricks Loki had played on him because just like his mother, their mother, he believed Loki could be redeemed.

After the welcomes were done and most people had sat down on the free places on the couches, Thor obviously taking the spot next to his brother, he explained what had brought the two Gods back to New York.

Since their return to Asgard, Loki had spent his days in a prison cell. 

There were two problems with that:

Frigga was caring and doing too much for him. She would bring him books and his favourite food. When the time allowed it she would visit him to see how he was doing which lead to problem two: he was feeling too comfortable.

“Odin, our father, he thought it would be for the best if Loki would spend some time on earth. Be among humans, see what he did as it would be a more severe punishment”, looking from Loki to the rest Thor could see them narrow their eyes with a mixture between confusion and mistrust. Loki had done a lot to hurt them, to tear them apart. His request quite possibly could fall on deaf ears. “What I’m asking of you is to let Loki stay here for the time being.”

Time seemed to stop.

How could Thor come here and request them to allow Loki to what? Move into the tower with them? That was what it came down to right?

“You can’t be serious.”

“I know it is a lot to ask but as a friend, I’m asking you to honor my wish.”

Standing up Tony walked away from the couch. He needed to get a few feet of distance between him and Thor at this point. “I don't care what you want, I don't want him in my home”, he pointed at Loki, his eyes locked with Thor’s. He couldn't believe the God of Thunder had asked him to allow Loki to stay in the tower. Hell, he couldn't believe that their father, Odin, thought it would be a good idea for Loki to spend time on earth as a punishment. From what Tony had gathered it sure would be considered a punishment for Loki, but what about the rest of the people. What about those he was supposed to stay with? 

For Tony, it surely was a punishment as well. For Clint, who had been under Loki’s influence before, it would also be hard to deal with it. To see Loki basically every day if they would agree to let him stay. How could Tony allow that? 

And then there was Mary. 

The thought of leaving her alone in the tower together with Loki when they would go out to save the world made his stomach churn. He couldn't let that happen, there was no way. 

Thor, who had stood up himself and followed Tony as he had walked away, now turned from Tony to Steve looking like he was begging for help. 

For a brief moment, Steve thought about not mingling with whatever this was turning into, but decided to ignore the voice telling him that. “Why don't we decide as a group? We all live here, let's vote.”

“What?!” Tony glared at Steve. “Don't tell me you're okay with this?”

“I'm not saying I'm okay with it, I'm just saying that maybe it's not a bad idea and I'm not keen on having more gods around than necessary. If their father wants Loki to stay here I'm not the one to say no to that”, he walked over to Thor, giving him a small nod. “I'm with Thor on this one.”

“Well I'm not”, Clint stood up from his chair and stood beside Tony. “If we're voting on him staying I'm voting ‘no’. After all that happened, I'm not comfortable with having him around me.”

Thor could understand that. Loki had manipulated Clint, made him kill, made him into something, someone, that he wasn't. And so he wasn't surprised when Natasha stood by her best friend's side. 

That left Bruce to decide. He had been quiet until now. He was torn between both sides. He could understand Thor wanting his friends to give Loki a chance, even if he didn’t deserve it. Not entirely at least. In some weird way, Bruce had been in a similar situation. None of them did have to trust him when he was asked to join the Avengers. He couldn’t control the Hulk and all he could do was to put his trust in their hands. If anything would happen, they had to stop him. And yet, even despite knowing he couldn’t control his other half and things could go wrong, it was Tony who believed Bruce would come and join them in their fight.

Looking at Tony, Bruce was able to tell that he was basically begging him to decline Thor’s wish. Maybe, a few weeks earlier, that would have been exactly what Bruce would have done. But at this very moment? He couldn’t.

Right now Thor was putting his trust into them. Asking for a chance. While it was a risk to allow Loki to stay, Bruce knew the feeling of being able to have that chance. It felt good. Maybe, no, most definitely, Loki didn’t see it. Maybe he never would. Thor had told them to not worry about Loki trying anything dumb like escaping or even attacking them. Odin had given Loki a bracelet with an inscription hindering him to use his magic. Showing them Loki’s wrist made it clear he wouldn’t be able to take it off. It was, more or less, burned into his flesh.

“Tony, I’m sorry. I think we should give him a chance.”

Great. Tony felt like his friends were betraying him. At least half of them. Give the person who had led the aliens to earth a chance? This was crazy.

“That's three against three. It's a tie”, Steve noticed as he looked from one person to the other. There was no denying that Tony was hoping him or Bruce would change their vote. He could see it in his eyes. If no one would change their mind, they wouldn’t get anywhere.

“Can I vote?” Everyone turned to Loki but it was Thor who answered. 

“No, you don't have a vote in this brother. If you did, you would use it so you could go back to Asgard.”

“It's better than staying here.”

“Do you prefer a prison cell over this?”

“If you're asking if I prefer a cell over being with humans who hate me then yes, I prefer going back but apparently I'm not allowed to say anything so I'll stay silent.”

“Good choice reindeer games.”

“What about me? Am I allowed to say something about this? I mean, I live here so shouldn't I tell you my opinion?”, Mary looked into the direction the voices came from. She could feel her brother, her friends, looking at her probably contemplating what to do. They knew she was right. She lived here just like them. 

Tony walked back to her side and took the free seat next to her. “You don't need to get involved in this.”

A sad smile appeared on her lips. “It's too late for that, don't you think”, she turned to face her brother. Her eyes, almost lifeless, piercing right into his. 

“Let her vote Tony”, Steve's voice was soft. “She's right, she should tell us what she thinks about Loki possibly staying here.”

“I..”

“Tony”, Mary stopped him before he could continue. "Aside from Jarvis, I'm the person who's at the tower the most. Not you, not Steve, not Natasha. Me."

Taking a deep breath he nodded more to himself than anyone else in the room. He knew she was right. That she should be allowed to vote just like them. He had made enough mistakes in the past and he would make more in the future, but he had learned a valuable lesson:

It was good to listen to other people. Let them tell their point of view. Explain things. He could still disagree or agree afterward after all. 

Voting on Loki staying was different though. 

It was his home. Yes, the others lived here too but it was his name on the papers. Before Coulson came to him to tell him about the Tesseract and that it had been stolen, this had been his home alone. His and Pepper’s. Now there were so many more people going in and out of the building. Some staying for a few hours. Some for a few days, even weeks. Not all of them were Avengers but those were the people who now had either taken his or Thor’s side.

And now he was supposed to let his sister decide?

Listen to her.

You need to listen to her.

That sentence kept playing over and over in his head. Unsure how much time had passed since she had asked him to vote, it could’ve been seconds or minutes at this point, all Tony did was to take a step back. Sighing he closed his eyes.

“Okay”, his voice was low as he spoke the word. And that was it. Nothing more. Just this one word and when he looked at his friends he could see the surprise in their eyes for the most part. But there was also encouragement. The silent confirmation that his decision was the right one.

Mary wasn’t aware of any of that. She had heard Tony say ‘okay’ and nothing after that, which is why she turned into the direction she had last heard Loki’s voice from assuming he was still in the same place.

Which was the case. Loki hadn’t moved from his place. Mostly because he didn’t intend to piss his brother off, even if that would increase his chances to get back to Asgard, but also because the last time he had been here didn’t go well. While everything that had been destroyed inside the tower during the fight had been repaired, Loki could well remember how he was flung through the air and smashed into the ground by the Hulk. Never again.

As the young woman, Mary, turned and faced him Loki used the moment to observe her closely. He had kept an eye on her just like everyone else in the room. Now that she was talking to him, blind or not, he looked into her eyes. His mother had taught him that a long time ago and to this day he tried to look at the person he was talking to. Sometimes it felt hard. He didn’t even want to deny that. When it came to Odin for example, even if he spoke back, looking at him was a different thing.

Another big difference in this situation was Mary’s voice. It was soft, understanding though still a bit harsh. 

“I'm aware of what you did”, Mary began. “Because of you I almost lost my brother. Because of you someone, I came to consider a friend has been hurt.” Clint knew she was referring to him. While everyone had been hurt in one way or another his case was so very different from everyone else’s in this room. “Because of you a lot of people died.”

“I feel like I know where this is going.” Loki had no doubt Mary would kick him out. As understanding as her voice was, listing some of the things he had done to show him his wrongdoings was far from understanding. At least it wasn’t as bad as Odin’s lectures at this point. And looking at it he was certain to be back in his cell in Asgard by the end of the day.

“Really?”

“Yeah, you're gonna say ‘no’ and I can return to Asgard.”

“That's where you're wrong”, Mary stood up and walked towards the place from where Loki’s voice came from. “My mum and I, we traveled a lot. Ever since I was little and so I met a lot of different people with different cultures, different beliefs. I learned a lot of things about how people deal with those who did something wrong. Punishment comes in a lot of different forms, and sometimes”, she paused.

Feeling everyone’s eyes on her, curious about what her own verdict would be, Mary felt the anxiousness rise. Tony, more than anyone, would not like her next words. Knowing what Loki had done should have made the decision easier and made her side with Tony. To her surprise, she didn’t feel uneasy about the thought of being possibly left alone with Loki in here. He couldn’t use magic according to Thor and if anything would go wrong she had the panic button after all.

Knowing that it did work put her at ease.

Tony would come to her aid. So would the others.

She would be fine.

“I vote for you to stay because I believe everyone deserves a second chance.”


	11. The One where Tony makes the Rules

Four against three.

That was the end vote.

While Tony thought about going to ask other people too, like Jarvis, Pepper or even Nick Fury who had arrived around 20 minutes after Mary had agreed to let Loki stay and causing the chaos to reign, Tony knew it wouldn’t change anything.

None of them, expect Jarvis, lived here.

Mary was right when she told him that the only person who was here constantly was her. Even though a lot of times Tony didn’t have a good feeling of leaving her alone because he and the other Avengers had a job somewhere else, there was nothing he could do about it. It was his duty to protect people. And when it came to that his sister was taking a backseat. Today was eye-opening for him. Because yes, bad things might still happen to Mary even inside his own home and cause her to run away but he could rely on other people to help her. Happy was there within minutes and Tony knew he would be again if the situation called for it.

He himself couldn’t be around. Not always and not forever.

Mary definitely didn’t know what she agreed to when she said ‘yes’, not that she would listen to Tony explaining why it wasn’t a good idea to have Loki around in detail. There was no way he would win this fight. And right now he, and a few of his friends were talking to Fury about the whole thing so he had no time to try and reason with his sister anyway.

Fury, Natasha, Steve, Thor and Tony himself were standing several feet away from the rest as they talked. It was clear to everyone else that there was a big discussion going on. Every once in a while the whole thing got so heated that everyone else around was able to clearly hear what was said.

Mary had walked away from the group, more specifically her brother. She didn’t want to have a discussion with him at that moment and was glad when Fury appeared because that took the focus away from her. She understood that she had been the one person to decide Loki’s fate of whether or not he could stay, which meant that she made other people uncomfortable with that decision as well.

One of those being Clint who had walked over to the chair she had sat down in and took a place on the ground next to her.

“You really believe in that second chance?”

Nodding, Mary turned to Clint. “I do. I know that.. you don’t approve of my decision and I can live with that, but I want you to know that it wasn’t my intention to make you uncomfortable.”

“It’s fine. It’s like you said: you’re here more than any of us but I can’t help but to wonder if you’re going to be okay with it yourself.”

“I guess only time will tell”, shifting in her seat Mary leaned her head against the wall behind the chair as it was placed at the end of the room next to a couple of shelves. “You know it’s not only about me believing in a second chance. Up until a few hours ago I never met Thor but hearing him talk about his brother like he did.. I can relate to that. Tony hasn’t been the nice older brother for a long time but even though I knew he could be. I chose to believe that and Thor chose to believe that his brother can change as well. I’m in no position to rob him of whatever time they have together”, shrugging Mary closed her eyes only to open them again when Clint spoke up.

“You make it sound rather dramatic. For all I know they’re Gods and they are older than all of us together.”

“Mhm, but you never know when something unexpected will happen. Thor is part of the Avengers right? From what I saw and hear you guys live dangerous. I suppose even a God isn’t immortal.”

Turning towards Mary, Clint shook his head. Partly in disbelieve and partly in amusement. Mary tended to worry more about others than herself. Even after losing her sight she continued to look out for Tony more than anyone else he knew. She would ask him how he was doing, if he was okay or hurt when they got back from a mission. If Tony wouldn’t give her an answer she would go and ask someone else until she was satisfied. Tony was the same, always worried about her.

It appeared that starting today, two pairs of siblings would walk around the tower.

“Besides, I learned today that the panic button works so if Loki does misbehave I’ll simply use it knowing that Tony and you will be here within minutes.”

Putting one hand on Mary’s knee, Clint gave it a little tap. “I love your optimism.”

The same couldn’t be said for Tony.

While he told himself to take a deep breath and be calm while talking with Fury and the others, it was harder than he thought but for Mary’s sake, he would make this work. Somehow. It didn’t help that Fury was against the whole thing with Loki staying at the tower too and was trying to get Thor to take him back. At this point, with Steve reminding everyone of the vote and Thor stating that it had been Odin’s wish for Loki to stay amongst those he did harm to see his wrongdoings, the emotions calmed down a bit.

Thor used the moment to mention once again that Odin took precautions so Loki wouldn’t use his magic and play tricks on them. They would be save and if, because there was always the possibility of Loki doing something stupid, the situation got out of hand he would be back in Asgard. Which at this point was what he wanted anyway so there was a high chance he would try something to anger them right away. They would essentially have to keep an eye open for things he did on purpose within the next couple of days or even weeks.

~*~

“We need to establish some rules here.”

Walking up and down the room Tony stopped every once in a while to look at Loki who, for some reason, still didn’t seem to be too worried about the situation at hand. Yes, the fact that he didn’t want to be here was still visible but whenever someone talked to him he didn’t seem to bother about the consequences of not listening or not cooperating.

“One: you’ll stay in the room I give to you. The only other room you’re allowed in is this one”, Tony made a gesture with his hand to put some emphasis into his words. “If you enter a room you’re not allowed in I will know so don’t even try it. Two: the reason I will know is because Jarvis is going to keep a close eye on you and he’ll inform me of whatever stunts you might try to pull. And believe me when I say that Jarvis will see everything”, the perks of having an AI like Jarvis. At this moment Tony appreciated that more than ever because despite trusting Thor and him probably keeping an eye on Loki himself, Tony would sleep a lot better knowing the God of Mischief was taken care of.

“Three, and this will be the most important one to keep in mind: if you hurt my sister in any form or way I will kill you.”

His voice was low and threatening. Something that was, at least in this form, new to most of his friends.

Having worked with Tony for a while had resulted in moments where he got angry and showed that. Sometimes even threatening someone in the process. None of that was personal though. Threatening someone to stop moving before you would shoot them was different from threatening someone to kill them if they harmed a person you cared about. And no one doubted he wouldn’t do it.

When Loki, who was simply looking at Tony, didn’t say anything in response most people figured that he was okay with it. Or as okay as one could be.

For Tony, it wasn’t enough though. “Say that you understand what I just told you.”

Focussing his own eyes on Tony’s a slight smile appeared on Loki’s lips. He knew when he had lost or when it was better to take a step back. Though of course, accepting defeat wasn’t exactly his style. For now, it seemed it would be better to take that step back. Knowing full well that his time would eventually come. Gain their trust, make ‘friends’ and then, use his chance. “I’m only allowed in my room and this one, I will be under surveillance constantly and you’ll kill me if I hurt your sister.”

Even without seeing him, the tone of Loki’s voice upon speaking the word sister told Mary this wouldn’t go as smoothly as the others, mostly Thor, might have hoped.

A couple of months back, when Tony was still his old self who would push her away, she could tell he didn’t like her. Either at all or her being around him. Him pushing her away was far from the feeling Loki was giving off. He had done wrong things and would continue to go that way for sure. Despite that Thor called him brother. Family. Some bonds were hard to be broken. Maybe Loki, based on his reaction, had broken the bond Thor was still holding on to.

It made Mary wonder what else had happened between them.

And how long it would take before Tony would actually kill Loki because there was no doubt that would happen.

It wasn’t only Mary to think about that. Natasha and Steve shared a knowing look. The silent conversation between the two of them making it clear they would keep an extra eye out for things that felt out of place. While Natasha was one of the people who voted for Loki to leave she was able to accept having lost and make the best out of it from now on. She wasn’t sure about Clint. Having seen him talking to Mary earlier gave her a little bit of hope he was doing okay so far. Once this whole rules speech was over and things would go on as normal as it was possible she intended to talk to Clint privately.

Maybe have him keep an eye on Tony as well. She would do so for sure because the looks that were exchanged between Tony and Loki made her feel uneasy.

Leaning closer to Natasha Steve whispered. “Looking at them I’m worried Tony will be the first to do something dumb.”

“Glad we agree”, Natasha turned towards her friend. “I’ll talk to Clint later when I get the chance. I want to know how he feels about this and ask him to look after Tony as well. To be honest, I’m more worried about him than Mary at this point.”

Steve felt a smile tug on his lips as he heard those words. He couldn’t deny having thought the same. It was easy to tell that Loki didn’t take the situation serious and Tony, on the other hand, took it way too serious. Ever since Mary had been kidnapped Tony had become more worried when something was happening that could affect her. Steve was sure Mary was aware of it.

Taking a step forward Steve spoke up to get the attention of everyone else and diffuse the situation between Tony and Loki. “Now that we sorted that out, how about we make dinner, sit together and talk”, he motioned towards Thor. “I would like to know what you have been up to since you went back home.”

“Of course”, Thor smiled. “I would love that.”

~*~

Dinner, given everyone was around, was kind of a group activity.

Based on what groceries were available some people volunteered to cook while the rest helped where they could. Be it by chopping vegetables or preparing the table. Everyone had their chores. That did include Mary who wanted to help on her own, stating that she was able to do easy preparations.

Thor watched her curiously. Every movement felt so natural that it was hard for him to believe she couldn’t see him or anything for that matter. Not that he knew a lot of blind people in the first place. He did notice the others moving around Mary instinctively. It was something that told him they were used to do so.

“Is it okay if I asked you some questions?”

Mary, being aware people were around her but not Thor and not this close got startled and put the knife down before turning her head into Thor’s direction. “You should not scare a blind person with a knife in hand.”

“I’m sorry, it wasn’t my intention to do so. I’ll keep it in mind not to do this again.”

“Thank you”, picking up the knife again Mary continued to cut some bell peppers. “So, what did you want to ask me?”

“For the beginning, I would like to know how long you have been blind? From the little I have seen so far you walk around with a lot of confidence.”

“It’s hard for you to believe I can’t see?”

Thor nodded. “Yes.”

“Mhm”, smiling Mary put her main focus on cutting. It was easy to tell that Thor was curious about her and she was curious about him as well. “If I answer your questions, will you answer mine as well?”

“Of course I will.”

“Well, to answer your first one: I’ve been blind for a few weeks but.. I have been visiting Tony and the others for a long time before so that makes it easier to move around here. And everything else, well, I don’t want people to worry about me or look out for me all the time. Which Tony still does.”

“He is your brother, it’s understandable.”

“I’m sure you know a lot about that hearing how you begged everyone else to allow Loki to stay here.”

“Family is the most important thing to have”, he sounded almost sad as he spoke the words. But it was true. Loki and he had been so close as kids. Even if he would count in the little rivalries and tricks Loki played on him because contrary to Thor, Loki had a knack for magic. “You said it earlier, that Tony might have died because Loki attacked earth and yet you agreed to let him stay. I can tell you value family a lot as well”, pausing for a brief moment Thor walked a few steps around the counter, his eyes moving to Loki who sat on a chair far away from everyone else. “I want to believe there is something good left in him. That he is the same person I grew up with.”

“I can tell he means a lot to you”, Thor turned to Mary as she spoke those words. She had stopped cutting and was looking at the ground. “Tony pushed me away for a long time before letting me in and now he won’t let me go. I feel like, based on my own experience, Loki is pushing you away at the moment while you hold onto him because he’s too stubborn to admit you mean a lot to him as well”, looking up she continued. “You deserve the chance and I sincerely hope Loki takes it as well.”

“I hope so too”, what Thor didn’t tell his friends was that having Loki stay on earth wasn’t alone Odin’s idea. Or his. Frigga had played a huge part in making that decision. As hard as it was for her to send Loki away and not being able to look after him every day. Just as Mary, his mother believed in second chances. Maybe even more so because Loki was and would always be her son.

Deep inside Thor hoped Loki wouldn’t throw this away because he had no idea what he would do if that happened.

“Any more questions?”

Mary’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts and Thor shifted his attention to her. “Ah, yes. I haven’t known Tony for long but it surprises me he never mentioned you before. Based on what the others said no one knew about you.”

“We have different mothers”, Mary didn’t see the need to lie about her and Tony’s family constellation at this point. “My mother met my father, our father, through work. I’ve been a family secret Tony didn’t want to acknowledge but I guess I was more stubborn than him. And since the accident”, she motioned to her eyes. “He’s turned into a person who worries way too much.”

“That would explain the last rule.”

“Yeah. You better keep an eye on your brother if you want him to stay here and I try to keep Tony in check. Does that sound like a good deal?”

“It does.”

Watching the people prepare dinner, talk to each other or simply walk around while he was ignored only showed Loki even more how he wasn’t welcomed here. How come more people agreed for him to stay than to leave? None of them wanted him here and no one could convince him otherwise. Thor maybe, but the rest? The only people who were brave enough to state their honest opinion were the ones who voted for him to leave.

However, this woman Mary, her agreeing with him staying gave him an honest feeling. She had meant what she said and now, as he watched her talk to Thor, it didn’t change that feeling. 

She had been introduced as Tony Stark’s sister and if Loki knew one thing about siblings, it was that they were stubborn. And more forgiving apparently. When she mentioned traveling with her mother she actually said ‘her’ and not ‘their’ and when the rest of the Avengers had arrived they had stated none of them knew about her. Being, in a weird way, adopted himself made Loki wonder if that was the case with her as well.

The right moment to find out about that would eventually come. 

At least if he didn’t decide to mess with her first or, as Tony put it, hurt her because that seemed to be the best and fastest way to leave earth.

He wanted to be subtle about it though. Because as much as he wanted to go back, he was still the God of Mischief and he loved to play games with others. Thor would come to regret taking him back to earth soon enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been on vacation and despite intending to relax and maybe write, I ended up being stressed. I won't ever go on vacation with anybody else than my best friend. I'm just glad to be back again (not counting in chaos at work).


	12. The One where Things start to go Wrong

“This place is getting crowded”, turning to lie on her back Valerie stared at the ceiling of Mary’s room while Mary herself was standing in the kitchen area making tea for both of them.

It had been a while since she had stopped by. Mostly because work kept getting in the way. With Mary not being around anymore and no new people helping out, those who were still working at the diner had a lot more to do. It made Valerie appreciate the work Mary had done more than ever. But instead of being able to relax with a friend, Valerie was greeted by chaos upon arriving in the morning hours.

She had stopped by a bakery for some breakfast. When she reached the tower, Jarvis had welcomed her and when she arrived in the living area so had everyone who was there. Including Pepper, Thor who she met for the first time and two people introducing themselves as Nick Fury and Maria Hill. Valerie had no idea who they were but their looks, along with yet another unfamiliar face on the couch made her turn around and go to Mary’s room without asking questions.

While the people who knew Valerie seemed to welcome her with open arms, the ones she didn’t know were hesitant and there was tension in the air. Tension that told her she should have called before stopping by but then again, Jarvis didn’t send her away so it had to be okay. 

Explaining who all those new people were to her friend, Mary, without saying it out loud, realized she was putting Valerie in danger. It reminded her too much of herself. How she would visit Tony, meet his friends, run into more people than she should possibly know. 

“That’s true. I’m not sure if Nick Fury appreciates me having guests over.”

“Sounds like you don’t want me around”, trying to sound hurt was just semi-successful as Valerie began to chuckle.

“Thanks for trying to make me feel worse”, grabbing the two cups of coffee Mary had prepared, she walked over to the couch where Valerie was at and put one of them on the table before sitting down in the armchair with her own one.

Sitting up Valerie took the cup and wrapped her fingers around it. “I know you don’t mean anything bad by saying you shouldn’t have guests. And I would be lying if I wouldn’t have thought about it before. Not coming here I mean. But you’re my friend and as long as Tony keeps you locked in here I will stop by when I have the time to do so.”

As long as Tony keeps you locked in.

A part of Mary wanted to say that it wasn’t like this, but she knew it would be a lie. He was keeping her here. Just remembering the day she and Valerie left to get a coffee and Tony suddenly stormed into the shop causing chaos and confusion because he couldn’t stop worrying and always seemed to expect the worst. Even now, with all the rules he had established for Loki. Her wellbeing was put above everything else and at this point, Mary couldn’t tell whether she like the ‘attention’ or not.

“I don’t want you to stop coming by, I’m just saying that with everything right now, new people arriving and staying and especially Fury being here a lot, it might be better to keep your distance for a bit”, taking a sip from her tea Mary closed her eyes for a moment. “In the meantime, I’m gonna talk to Tony and see if we can meet up somewhere else. I’d love to eat out somewhere for a change.”

“I just happen to know the perfect place. There is this small diner. Great food, nice people. Can recommend.”

Both women began to laugh.

This moment right here and now, it felt like their past movie nights. Just sitting together and enjoying their time as friends. Last year it almost felt like they would do so every week. Find one day they could spend together. Maybe not the whole one but at least the morning for breakfast or the evening for dinner. They would talk about just anything that came to their minds, watch dumb movies and laugh about them. Mary remembered how she would confine in Valerie about her brother but in the end, it never was a big deal. There were so many things to talk about that Tony simply was forgotten.

Mary missed the old times. Before meeting with Tony, before the world knew her.

If she managed to leave the tower just for a couple of hours it would be enough for Mary to go back to that time. Feel free and completely happy. Not that she wasn’t happy now, it was simply different. Like back when she traveled around the world with her mother she was happy, after making up with Tony it was another kind of happiness and now, despite all the bad things that had happened, she was still happy. 

She knew there was no going back. This was her reality but if she would manage to grab a little piece of the past happiness, it would change things for her. Or that’s what she wanted to believe.

Four hours, breakfast and a movie they had seen a hundred times later, Valerie said her goodbyes and left the tower. Mary had taken her down the elevator and as she was on her way back up she put in the little earplug Tony had made so she could talk to Jarvis privately. 

Tapping it twice she called out to him. “Jarvis? Do you have a moment?” During the ride down to the front door, she had made up her mind and decided there were two things she needed to do right now. The first one included Jarvis, the second Tony.

“Of course Mary. How can I help you?”

Leaning back against the cold elevator wall Mary sighed. “I have a request but this needs to stay between you and me. No one can know, especially not Tony”, this would be the first time Mary would abuse having Tony’s clearance level. Maybe he would find out one day and hopefully, he would listen to her when she would explain the reason behind her decision.

“I promise to not tell anyone.”

“Thank you, Jarvis. What I would like you to do or rather not do is to tell Tony in case Loki tries something stupid. I essentially want you to break rule two.”

Jarvis didn’t say anything for about half a minute as the elevator got up another couple of floors. “You don’t want me to inform Tony about something that would result in Loki returning to Asgard?”

“Yes”, she nodded. “Thor believes in his brother and though I’m aware Loki will do something stupid at one point during his stay, I don’t want him to go home. It might not make sense but.. if there’s a way for Tony not to find out in case something happens, can you make sure about that?”

“I am certainly capable of not telling Tony about any incidents if there’s the need for it. I can also alter the surveillance videos if you would like that.”

“You can do that?”, Mary was surprised. “Won’t Tony notice?”

“Tony only checks the videos if something happened. If nothing happens, he won’t check them which means..”

“You won’t have to alter them anyway”, realizing that Tony trusted Jarvis with telling him about anything that happened, especially when he wasn’t here, caused Mary’s to feel sick to her stomach. No doubt Tony trusted her as well. How would she be able to 'look' at him, ask him about going out with Valerie once in a while and then lie straight to his face? 

~*~

Slinking into the chair next to Clint, Natasha gave him a little nudge with her elbow causing him to look at her for a second before turning his attention back to Fury who was talking to Thor privately outside on the balcony. Overall the conversation appeared to be a civilized one. There was no shouting, no wild gestures. Clint figured that, since Fury had been here to talk about Loki a couple of times since his arrival, things had calmed down on everyone’s side.

So far Loki had played by Tony’s rules and in a way was Thor’s shadow because he wouldn’t leave his brother alone unless he had to.

Like now. With Thor being outside Loki was left sitting alone on the couch and he still didn’t look comfortable being on earth. That was especially apparent whenever Bruce would be close. The Hulk beatdown had left its marks. Which was a little funny to see, Clint had to be honest.

“You seem to be doing fine”, Natasha followed Clint’s line of sight.

“I’m good at adapting to difficult situations.”

Natasha raised an eyebrow as she turned to her friend. “Oh really? Does that have anything to do with the conversation you and Mary had the other day?” When Clint looked at her Natasha continued. “I saw you sitting down with her after it was clear Loki would stay and not be sent back to Asgard. I’m curious to know what you two talked about.”

“Mhm”, folding his hands Clint stared into the distance. “Second chances. There’s one thing we might not get but Mary does and that’s what it’s like to have a sibling. Her motive if you want to call it that is probably the most innocent I've ever heard. All she wants for Thor and Loki is to be able to spend time together as brothers. Something she missed with Tony."

That was a surprise to Natasha. "I have to admit that's not what I believed to be the reason behind her choice."

"What did you think?" 

Shrugging Natasha turned in her chair and propped her elbows on the table. "I actually expected something along the lines of driving Tony crazy."

Right. Because that was something Mary would do. "I find that ridiculous but okay."

"Oh come on. Tony likes to bother people too, he and Mary have to have something in common", she raised a hand to stop Clint from interrupting her because she could see him getting ready for that. "And I don't talk about positive traits here."

There was the slightest of smiles on her lips. 

Of course Tony and Mary had things in common. Some gestures were almost scaringly similar. Just like Tony Mary worried about her friends way too much and there was no doubt that if she would be capable to do it, she would fight to protect them as he did. Some days both would sit together and listen to music which usually was Tony's type of music but Mary seemed to enjoy it. Maybe that was one reason why Tony gave her some of his shirts to wear. 

And so, with all of those little things, it was easy to tell they were related when they sat or stood side by side. 

However, the 'bad' similarities weren't there. 

Natasha remembered how last year Tony had used four words to describe himself:

Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. 

Mary was maybe 15% of that. And those percent did definitely not include the words billionaire and playboy. 

All those things resulted in Tony coming off as this unapproachable, too full of himself kind of character who did have some anger issues from time to time. He needed longer to let people inside, open up to them. And even then he sometimes kept to himself while Mary enjoyed having someone with her. She appeared to, overall, be more at ease with everything. 

"I guess I'm just waiting for the moment where she snaps."

"You know, sometimes it's hard for me to tell whether or not to be happy we're friends", chuckling at his words Natasha joined in only to stop when the elevator arrived at the floor and the door opened. Clint did the same as he looked up and spotted Mary. 

They had seen her enter the elevator along with Valerie, there were no big goodbyes when she left. She'd usually say 'bye', wave and then vanish behind the steel doors. Mary accompanied her most of the times though today when she stepped out into the living room, there was some hesitation before moving into the direction of the kitchen. 

As Mary walked towards the fridge to grab a bottle of water to take back to her room, she could hear a chair moving. Followed by footsteps and Natasha's voice. 

"How's Valerie?" 

"She's good", Mary smiled. "A little spooked by Fury and the new people in general which is understandable."

"Everyone is spooked by him the first time."

"He doesn't exactly radiate nice estranged uncle vibes so..", closing the fridge with a sigh, Mary closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against the door. There was this short moment, right now and back in the elevator, where Mary wondered if she should ask for help regarding Tony. "I'm a bit worried about her coming here at the moment. Mostly because I don't think Fury likes it when people who don't have anything to do with you just stop by whenever they like to."

"Valerie is your friend", Natasha put a hand on Mary's shoulder. "No one can tell her or you that she's not allowed to come here. I definitely won't do that seeing as I enjoy the food at the diner a lot."

Mary laughed as she pushed back from the fridge. "Don't we all? By the way, have you seen Tony?" 

"I believe he and Pepper went upstairs to the lab together but I could be mistaken. He did talk to Fury and Hill for a bit earlier", with the difference that Fury was still here but Hill had left about 45 minutes ago. Which was around the same time Tony walked away with Pepper. "Jarvis sure can help you."

"I know. I just thought you might know that's why I asked", holding up the water bottle she took a few steps back. "We might put that on the next shopping list."

~*~

Just like Natasha had assumed, Tony and Pepper were in the lab. 

While Tony was brooding over something on his computer, Pepper tried her best to sort a stack of papers. Why Tony had those? She had no idea. Usually, all his research was digital. It didn’t mean that he would never use paper for his notes but at this point, she knew that those tended to be things from sleepless nights. Which were far less by now and yet here were all those notes.

Looking at a few of the pages as she put them together, Pepper wasn’t entirely sure what she was looking at. Some scribbles and writings didn’t make sense to her at all. And others a little. Grabbing a particular page with coffee stains she narrowed her eyes. Even with the stains, scribbles, and notes all over, it was easy to tell this had been an idea for either contacts or glasses for Mary. Smiling to herself Pepper put the paper on top and placed the whole stack on a table to the side before making her way to a coffee machine. 

“Care for a coffee?”

“Mhm”, Tony replied, his eyes still glued on the screen of the computer.

“I take that as a yes.”

“Sorry”, he said as he turned around to look at her. “I’d love a coffee”, focusing back on his work he continued. “I’m just still not comfortable with Loki staying so I’m working on a few things to make sure to keep him in check. And to make sure we’re save from whatever stunts he might pull.”

“If I’m not mistaken Thor said something about their father taking precautions so Loki isn’t able to use his magic. That and Jarvis keeping an eye on him should be enough right?”, Pepper asked while waiting for the coffee to be ready. Knowing Tony, of course, meant that he preferred to take the matter in his own hands. When Tony didn’t respond Pepper looked over her shoulder to see what he was up to. The answer being obvious even before she did so. She couldn’t help but shake her head while watching his back as he continued to work.

The sound of the coffee machine given a signal that the drink was ready overlapped with the lab door opening. While Tony didn’t turn to look who entered the room, Pepper did so and smiled when she saw Mary. “Hello Mary.”

“Hey Pepper”, she smiled into Pepper’s direction and took a few more steps into the room. Jarvis had told Mary where her brother was sitting before she entered the lab and despite not having been in the room before, it was easy to follow Jarvis’s instructions and get a rough idea how the lab might look. “Hey Tony, do you have a moment?”

Upon hearing his sister speak he had turned around on his chair to look at her. “Sure. What’s the matter?”

Fiddling with her thumbs Mary took a deep breath. “You know.. I was wondering if once in a while instead of Valerie coming here to visit, we could go out. As in to the diner or someplace else to eat or to have a drink.” 

Narrowing his eyes Tony turned his full attention to Mary. To him, that wasn’t a good idea. Even with the panic button and the GPS built into it so many unexpected things could happen and no one would be there to help. Valerie could only do so much. Guiding Mary along the streets? No problem. Fighting off kidnappers? Big problem. And if it weren't kidnappers it would be reporters trying to ask her questions, get answers. He was used to that and even with Mary being a little used to it she had stated more than once that she didn't like having a group of people around, asking her things she didn't want to answer.

That had been before she was kidnapped and now it applied even more. 

Shortly after she had moved in the trails against her kidnappers had begun and, given that she was the victim and a witness, she had to attend the trails. 

After the first hearing, when she and Tony were alone, she had told him that it was worse than waking up in the hospital bed. Back there she felt scared and alone. There were noises that were strange for her to hear but she knew what they were. Especially because the smell alone told her 'You're in a hospital'. But in court all the noises, all the people, it was simply too much and the way she described her feelings to Tony made him think of how he felt when he woke up from a nightmare. 

_"I can't believe I'm saying this but people scare me now."_

_"Because you can't see them?"_

_"It's more about the noises they make. They don't care if you can't see them and go on with their lives as if everything is perfectly normal. When so many are together there are all those noises and to be honest I can't tell what most of them are. They just seem so loud and it scares me."_

Thinking back to the times Tony went to the diner for food while Mary had to work, he remembered her bright smile as she greeted customers and talked to them as if they had been friends for years. He also remembered all the stories she had told him about growing up in places all around the world and the people she met. She was outgoing, loved to be around people - to some extent. 

At one point everyone became tired of that. 

With being blind that point was always just around the corner. And now she wanted to go out? Happy had told him how panicked Mary looked when he had gotten out of the car to pick her up. She literally had been the deer caught in the headlights. 

"I don't think it's a good idea."

"Why not?" 

"Because", he began. "No one but Valerie will look out for you if the two of you go out and she won't be able to do it alone. The moment you'll go and sit down in a restaurant or bar, people will recognize you and not long after that they will come up to you. Reporters will come up to you."

"I'm aware of that", Mary could tell Tony didn't have any ill intentions and simply wanted the best for her. "I'm also aware, based on what happened when Thor arrived, I'm not good at dealing with lots of people and cars and everything else but.. Valerie can't come here every time."

Now he was the one to ask the question. "Why not?" 

What seemed obvious to her, didn't apply to her brother. "Many reasons. For example that just like I did stop by every once in a while, she does. And we know how that ended for me", her voice became a little louder as she pointed one hand at her face. "Back when I still worked there were weeks where we saw each other every day and now? Since I moved in I can count the times she has been here on one hand because this place and hers, they're on two different sides of the city and she has a ton to do at work. And now with Loki being here and Fury apparently hanging around every day, it doesn't seem to be the best idea for her to stop by."

"And who's fault is that? You agreed to let Loki stay. I'm simply accepting the voting result."

"Are you seriously blaming me for Valerie feeling uneasy because Fury is giving everyone scary looks?" 

Standing up from his chair Tony took a couple of steps towards Mary, pointing a finger at her. "Fury wouldn't need to be here if you had said no and I wouldn't need to worry about you, Pepper and everyone else living here being the targets of Loki's schemes", by now the volume of his voice had increased and for a second Pepper was ready to go in between the two of them. 

She was still standing to the side watching the exchange. It wasn't the first fight between the siblings but definitely one of the louder ones. 

"It's all because you chose to believe in that magical second chance."

That was enough. Up until now, Mary had played by someone else's rules, that someone usually being Tony. She had never asked for anything and now that she did it seemed as if she was a child who couldn’t take care of herself. She was 27 years old for Christ's sake. She could make her own decisions and yet Tony told her no as if this was a prison. Why did she even ask? She should just go and leave.

"You know what Tony? Fuck you! I gave you a second, a third, a fourth chance. I gave hundreds because I believed in you. I guess based on that it's my fault I got kidnapped then as well", turning around Mary began to stomp out of the room, ignoring Tony calling after her.

She knew he wouldn't just agree and she hated herself for even trying to reason with him. Hell, he sounded like he didn't even want to see her side of the situation. And that was something she had hoped he would do at least. For years he hadn't cared about her or made it look like that because he had admitted having someone follow her for a while. So yes, he cared and Mary didn't mind to a certain extent. But when he had the nerve to blame her because she could forgive people easier than him just now? She would move heaven and hell if Loki threw away the chance to have a brotherly bond with Thor because this was taking a strain on the relationship with her own brother. 

Tony, when realizing that Mary wouldn't listen as she walked away, decided to follow her only to be stopped by Pepper. Putting a hand on his arm she shook her head. 

"Give her the space she needs. If you go after her now she'll shut down completely and I know you don't want that."

"Neither do I want to argue with her."

"I understand that. Just.. try to see her side of things. This isn't your first fight and it won't be your last. Maybe someone who's a little more sympathetic should talk to her later."

Looking at Pepper Tony mustered a weak smile. "You're offering to do that?" 

Shrugging Pepper turned around and walked back to her previous spot to get the coffee she had made. Grabbing a cup she walked back to Tony and handed it to him. "I'm usually the one to clean up your messes. However", she gave him a stern look. "All I can do is lay the groundwork. You have to do the rest. Be the person she looks up to. Be her brother."

Taking the coffee Tony stared at the liquid in thought before turning the cup in his hands, reading the words printed on it: Best brother in the World. He didn’t feel like he deserved to be called that at the moment. 

Pepper was right. He had to give Mary her space. 

And Mary was right too. She had given him so many chances and he didn't deserve any of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a little drama for the evening along with people making dumb decisions.  
> Don't we love those?
> 
> The next chapter is already in the works. For some reason, I've been writing more recently than ever before.  
> Not that I mind, I actually like it that way.


	13. The One with Silence between Siblings

“Did I miss something?”

“I’d say yes but I’m not sure what exactly.”

Steve, who had spent a few hours in the training room, had come back upstairs after a shower and changing into fresh clothes when dinner was ready. And dinner being ready today meant that Bruce and Clint had gone to grab takeaway for everyone. 

When they had gotten back things seemed to be normal. Fury left essentially the same time they had arrived, leaving Thor to sit back next to his brother and talk to him, while Natasha had already laid out plates, glasses, and silverware. Clint had written her a message when he and Bruce were on their way back. That way the table could be prepared and in general, people had time to get ready because usually not everyone would be in the main room and wait for things to happen.

And that was the case today as well as four people were missing:

Steve who, given what Natasha knew, was training downstairs, Tony and Pepper who should be at the lab and Mary who was somewhere. Clint and Natasha knew that Mary had been looking for Tony a while ago. Whether she had met up with him or not was something no one could tell. No one had seen her after she went to get back to her room before seeking out her brother, which wasn’t unusual as Mary had kept to herself more and more over the last weeks.

But then again, everyone here had.

Tony spent a lot of time in the lab again with Bruce accompanying him. Natasha had a few little assignments from Fury every once in a while, so did Clint. However, Clint’s situation was a bit different because yes, while he did help out Fury there were also a lot of times where he went home to his family. And that was still something he wasn’t willing to share. Steve either trained or tried to learn more things about this, to him still, strange world. Sometimes he would do so with the help of Mary which meant that he would read books out loud and then talk about it with her. Other times they would simply talk or listen to a show that was on at the moment.

It was only after Thor and Loki arrived that everyone tried to be around more often. Sit together on the couch, talk or watch something on TV.

It made them grew closer together. Made it easier to tell when something was off. For example, if someone was having a bad day. Which was the reason why, after Jarvis sent out a message that dinner was ready to those who weren’t in the room, the shift in the atmosphere was apparent. 

Tony and Pepper were the first to arrive. And while Tony went to sit down at the dining table right away without saying a word to anyone, Pepper helped to unpack the food and place it on the table. Bruce and Clint had brought so much that it looked like a feast. Even with nine people, they wouldn’t manage to eat all of it today meaning they would have leftovers for tomorrow.

When Mary stepped out of the elevator and made her way towards the dining table, Natasha could see Tony shooting her a glance that made it seem as if he wanted to say something only to refrain from it in the end. And then there was Pepper who gave his shoulder a squeeze as he simply sat in his chair deciding to stare at the food. Where normally it was Tony to ask his sister if she wanted something to drink or if he should help her with the food, it was now Pepper who stepped towards the younger woman with a smile.

Their conversation was silent.

Natasha watched Pepper putting a variety of foods on a plate and handing it Mary who took it, along with a glass of juice and then, to everyone’s surprise, walked away from the usual seat she would occupy next to Tony. Instead, she walked straight up to the other end of the table and took the free seat to Loki’s right while Thor sat to his left. The God of Thunder smiled and welcomed her. And there, for the first time since she had entered the room, she smiled as well as she greeted him back.

Looking back at Tony Natasha saw him looking up for a split second before focussing back on his plate.

That situation hadn’t changed when Steve joined them and asked Bruce what was going on.

Tony and Pepper sat side by side, though Tony was awfully quiet and brooding. Natasha decided to sit next to Pepper and both of them were talking. Clint sat at the opposite of Natasha with a couple of chairs free between him and Tony, as well as him and Thor who was sitting as far away from Tony as possible. Which obviously was because Loki wouldn’t sit with everyone else. Not only because he didn’t want it, but also because no one wanted to sit close to him either. That circumstance didn’t stop Thor from talking to everyone at the table. However, seeing Mary sitting next to Loki as well felt wrong.

And maybe that was why, in the end, Steve decided to sit next to her and Bruce went to sit with Clint so no one was ‘left alone’.

Hearing Steve’s voice as he moved the chair next to her made Mary smile for a split second, asking him how he had been and what he had been doing today. As he explained that he spent his time in the training room, for the most part, Thor chimed in immediately. Stating that he would love to join the next time.

Just hearing them talk like old friends who had known each other for years made Mary happy. She could see, figuratively speaking, why Steve was one of the people who were fine with Loki staying here. He didn’t do it for Loki or to anger him, he did it because Thor was a good friend. 

As Thor and Steve talked and laughed, Mary heard a deep exhale from her left. No doubt Loki didn’t share the love for the things Thor did enjoy. But that was normal right? She didn’t like everything her brother enjoyed and vice versa. Plus, and that was for sure the biggest problem, was that Loki still made it very clear he didn’t want to be here. Mary had asked Jarvis if there had been any incidents with Loki at all, even before enabling rule two a few hours earlier, and Jarvis had told her no. So it did seem that he behaved. For now. 

“It seems you don’t share the same love for fighting as your brother does.”

Glancing at Mary was all Loki could do before Thor spoke up. “My brother was never the one to seek the thrill of the fight. Not with those weak arms of his. However, what he lacks in strength he makes up with intellect and his magic.”

“I remember you saying something about this on your first day here”, Mary noted. “Something about the fact that Loki wouldn’t be able to cast anything?”

“Yes. Knowing Loki our father made sure he can’t use any magic. Both for his sake and that of everyone else.”

“Odin is not our father and you’re not my brother. Stop calling me that word when it’s not true.”

Well, that sounded like a complicated family situation and something Mary didn’t want to dive into at the given moment. “What kind of magic are we talking about? Like.. elemental magic where you can conjure storms or fire?”, she asked trying to get the focus away from talking about their family connection.

Loki was confused as to why she was interested in that aspect. Yes, she said he could stay so was this some kind of attempt to gain his trust? Not that it did matter. He was aware that there was no magic on earth. So of course, she would be interested in how it worked. Everyone would. And while a part of him felt bothered by having this conversation or rather a conversation with a human in general, it was better than to listen to Thor. “I prefer illusions. Making people believe they see something that’s not there.”

Mary couldn’t deny that being able to use illusions sounded handy. Even though she had no idea to what extent Loki could make illusions so in her imagination it was far from the truth.

“He also likes to shapeshift”, Thor added. “Either in other people or animals. He actually turned me into a frog in the past.”

It was Steve to comment on that while Mary simply chuckled at the thought. “I have to be honest, as much as I honor you being a friend, I would have loved to see that.”

“I have to agree with Steve here”, Mary noted before taking a bite of her food. She wondered if Thor, as a frog, looked like him in some way or if he was just a frog. As she thought about that Mary had to realize that she had no idea what Thor or Loki looked like. The moments where Thor was shown on TV were scarce and all she remembered was a blonde, big tall man who probably could cause a bruise by simply shaking your hand. “It does sound funny.”

“I can assure you it was not”, being a frog had been, up to this day, the worst thing Thor could have experienced. People didn’t recognize him and tried to get rid of him. Either by trying to catch his frog self, scaring him away or even trying to kill him. Loki had no intention of turning him back. In the end, it was a pure accident that Frigga found frog Thor clinging on to the balcony of the royal chambers for his dear life. “I do have to admit that Loki is talented when it comes to magic but the way he uses it isn’t tactful.”

Rolling his eyes Loki decided to try and enjoy the food. This was nowhere near what he got back in Asgard though still edible. As of right now, he was in no position to argue. Loki was still intending to play along for a while and when his eyes met Tony’s even more so. The man was glaring daggers at him. Sure enough for more than one reason. After all, something must have happened between the Stark siblings, Loki could tell that much and there, while looking at the man at the opposite end of the table, he wondered if he was one of the reasons for whatever had happened behind closed doors as it was no secret that Tony and Mary had different opinions about him staying.

Tony didn’t like this one bit.

Knowing full well Mary wouldn’t sit down next to him during dinner, if she even decided to join, he rather expected her to grab some food and retreat to her room. Maybe even ask someone to bring her food so she wouldn’t have to leave the comfort of her own four walls.

But now she was here, completely ignoring him. It didn’t go unnoticed by him that she was using the little earpiece he had made her which meant that Jarvis was giving her directions in one way or the other. Seeing how she walked down to the other end of the table with a set goal in mind was enough proof for him to know that Jarvis was helping her.

And that put Tony at ease.

Even if she wasn’t listening to him right now and maybe not even to Pepper, knowing Jarvis was there, looking after her and helping her allowed him to breathe. Mary hadn’t shut everyone out and Tony trusted Jarvis in telling him if something was wrong with his sister. And he trusted Pepper. Giving Mary space and time was the right thing.

Just why did she have to use those two things and decide to share them with Loki?

~*~

One week later Mary was still avoiding Tony.

At this point, everyone knew something had happened but no one, except Mary, Tony, and Pepper, knew what that was exactly. Tony wasn’t one to share his problems with others so no one expected him to talk about it. 

He and Bruce spent several days together inside the lab and as far as Bruce told everyone else, Tony was his usual self during those moments. He was focused on work. Maybe a little too much. Bruce recalled the time on the Helicarrier when they were studying Loki’s Scepter. All the time, while they did so Tony’s first priority, was to find out what the scepter was and what it did. He wanted to find a solution to a problem and while he did that, he talked to Bruce in order to find out more about him. There was small talk going on between them. During the past days that had been missing. Every once in a while Tony would ask Bruce for his opinion on something and then go back to work.

Because of Loki Tony decided to step up the security measures. Bruce was not the person to keep him from that. If he was honest it would make him feel a little better too.

A security update wasn’t the only thing Tony was working on. Bruce had noticed that, when Tony had the time, he would walk over to a different workstation. Upon asking what it was and if he needed help Tony, at first, was hesitant and said he was okay. Two days later he did ask for advice and Bruce finally saw what project Tony had picked up on the side. Again.

Maybe the fight Tony and Mary had was the reason why he was eager to find something to make her see again and Bruce wasn’t sure what to think of it.

Since he knew Tony had started to think about trying to build something for Mary before, but stopped it, Bruce had figured that they had talked about it. Mary didn’t seem to have a lot of problems with being blind. Yes, in the beginning, she walked into a lot of things but once she knew her way around, everyone else had an eye on her and she used the earpiece those things didn’t happen anymore. Or rarely.

The plans Tony had written down until that point were put away. For them to be back made Bruce curious so naturally, during work, he would ask Tony how he was doing. What was going on with Mary.

“And what did he say?”

Grabbing a few boxes of cereals from the shelves to then put them into the shopping cart Steve was pushing through the aisles of the supermarket, Bruce let out a sigh. “I’m not entirely sure, to be honest. All Tony was willing to say was that they had a fight and that’s why he picked up the project again. I’m aware they have argued before”, Bruce noted as they continued their way through the supermarket to get the rest of the groceries on the list they had. “This feels different and with Fury giving us new assignments..”

“Tony is going to throw himself at work to make sure Mary will be fine during the time we won’t be home”, Steve finished the sentence.

“It doesn’t help that Mary continues to try and, I guess, make friends with Loki.”

“Pretty sure she doesn’t mean anything bad by it. I have to admit it gives me an uneasy feeling but at this point, based on her and Tony fighting, she might partially do it to get back at him”, she definitely refrained from speaking to him to do that. Or that was what it looked like. Other fights they have had, whether or not the rest were aware of what those were about, at least ended with them talking the bare minimum. A good morning or a good night. This time neither of them went to back down. “Let’s hope they figure this out before we leave next week.”

Next week.

Another assignment for the Avengers. Another chance to make the world a safer place.

Neither Steve nor Bruce could deny that it felt good to be needed. But quiet moments like these, where they would live a fairly normal life, go grocery shopping, for example, felt nice too. Of course, people did recognize them so when they walked down the next aisle a few kids came running up to them to ask for pictures. Those kids. Their smiles. They were the best reason to keep this world save.

Every one of them had something they wanted to protect. Something they wanted to keep save.

Only sometimes the things you want to keep save are already one foot deep in danger.

~*~

Tapping the fingers of her right hand against the wood of her desk while using the other hand to support her head, Mary’s thoughts had drifted to a far off place.

She thought it would be easy. Ignoring Tony. Letting him feel that she was angry at him.

But it wasn’t.

For years they hadn’t talked because he refused to do so and when things changed it felt so good. Now she was doing the same he had done. Though of course, he didn’t come to talk to her either. Instead, Pepper had taken on that job. 

And she did a great job.

When she had stopped by Mary’s room Pepper had brought cake and the conversation they had didn’t involve Tony for most of the time. There were other things to talk about. But yes, one of the main topics eventually led to Tony and that topic was the reason as to why Mary was sitting at her desk in the first place. 

She wanted to show Tony that she was able to take care of herself. That she didn’t need him or Jarvis. The books Pepper had gotten her were the first step to learn how to live normal again or the first step regarding living in the outside world because the very first step Mary had taken was to accept her fate. Right now she had one picture in her mind. A picture of this place, like a blueprint almost and it was filled with notes. How many steps she needed to take before reaching the couch or her door after leaving the elevator, the placement of every plant, book, simply anything. There was no more free space for notes so now it was time to focus on something new.

Opening a new page she decided to learn how to read first. 

Proof herself and everyone else that she was willing to learn, willing to take another step into a future where she didn’t have to depend on others.

Learning braille felt incredible hard and that made it easy for her to get lost in her thoughts. Think of Tony and how Pepper had mentioned that he reacted the way he did because he was worried. Pepper did agree that he went overboard but so did Mary, to which she agreed. Both had made mistakes, no doubt. When Mary noted that she was surprised Tony didn't come to her to talk about the fight Pepper confessed that she told him not to do so, believing it would be better to give Mary a little space. 

Unsure how to feel about the reveal Mary stayed silent. 

It was true she would have pushed Tony away and not listen to him if he had followed her right away. But especially after she continued to ignore him and spending time with everyone else, she thought he would've approached her by now. Even more so since she would sit with Thor and Loki during every meal. 

In a quiet minute, Clint told her that Tony didn't like Mary hanging around the God of Mischief, which was to be expected. What she also did expect, yet didn’t happen, was Tony going between them. To keep Loki in check other than having Jarvis keep an eye on him - which didn’t work because she told Jarvis to keep any incident to himself. This would only get worse before it would get better.

Sighing Mary closed the book and got up from the chair. She needed to sort this out before her brother and the rest of the Avengers would leave next week. Even if she didn't want to admit it she constantly feared to get a message telling her that her brother wouldn't come back. That he had been hurt so bad that there was nothing anyone could do to save him. 

Mary always did have an open relationship with her mother where they would talk about everything. Naturally, some things felt weird to talk about at first, especially as Mary was getting older and started dating. That conversation was uncomfortable. She couldn't tell for whom it had been worse, her mother explaining sex and birth control to her or Mary listening to it. It wasn't as if she didn't know anything about it as it was easy to pick up certain things while growing up. 

After that, a wall had been torn down and every other topic was easy to talk about.

It didn't mean that she told her mother everything and after becoming aware of the fact they only had a limited time together, Mary went and talked about some things she never said but should have. 

Like how she was proud of her mother for raising her alone, that she did a great job and that Mary loved her life as it was even if sometimes she made it sound like she hated traveling. Because deep inside she didn't. Mary also told her mother that she loved her. That she should have said it more often and that she regretted not doing it. 

Maybe it was selfish but Mary didn't want to let Tony go to, maybe, never return without talking about their fight. Without making up. Without telling him how much he meant to her and that she was sorry. 

At this point, for the sake of her mental state speaking with Tony was inevitable. 

~*~

The living room was bustling.

Steve and Bruce had returned with the groceries and now had help from Tony and Thor with stowing them away. Since Thor didn’t know the kitchen well it turned out to be a little more chaotic but weirdly it was also fun.

Loki, who was the only other person in the room, watched the four men from afar.

How come they were having so much fun doing such petty things?

Humans, he would never understand them. No matter how long he would have to stay here to ‘see his mistakes’, it wouldn’t be long enough to get behind this strange behavior. Thor didn’t seem to mind joining in on whatever this was aside from sorting food into cupboards. Unlike Loki, he didn’t mind to be here in general. To be with his friends, with even more people who looked up to him.

Not only the Avengers but the world as well.

Once again it appeared that Thor was the one to have it all. To be the good son. The hero. The one everyone looked up to.

Just for once in his life he wished to have the same effect on people. Walk into a room and instantly make friends. Friends. Loki couldn’t help but huff at the thought. It had never seemed to be his time and place for that. For a while, even though he knew they only spent time with him because they were Thor’s friends, he thought of the Warrior Three and Sif as his friends as well. It was apparent they didn’t like him and the only reason why they were nice to him, was because of Thor.

Everything was always about Thor.

Getting up from the couch to go back to his room and find something else to do instead of sitting here and staring at other people, Loki let everyone know where he was going. Playing by the rules also meant to inform someone of his whereabouts. He had learned that and it was part of eventually having fewer eyes on him. As he was one step away from the elevator it opened and Mary stepped outside, almost running into him if he hadn’t stepped aside. She looked surprised as she turned into his direction.

“I’m sorry Loki.”

Narrowing his eyes he wondered how she could tell it was him. He had seen her wearing an earpiece before but now she wasn’t. “It’s fine”, was everything he said as he left.

Listening to Loki leave, Mary waited for another couple of seconds before moving towards the noise coming from the kitchen. She knew Tony was there, she had asked Jarvis before making her way up here. If she was honest she was surprised he wasn’t sitting in the lab. It would only seem fitting to find him there but on the other hand, Mary was relieved he hadn’t turned away from everyone.

As Mary approached the noise, clearly identifying the voices, she spoke up. “Do you guys mind if I borrow Tony for a few minutes?”

“Go ahead”, though Steve talked to her his eyes were on Tony who looked a little as if he was unsure if he should go with her. This was not a normal argument they have had. “We’ll manage to get the rest done without Tony so take your time. We can call you once we start with dinner so you can help us if you like?”

“That sounds good”, nodding as she took a step back she was ready to leave. Tony had already moved around the counter, walking towards Mary and reached out to touch her arm so they could walk to a more private place together when she turned back to Steve and the others. “Hey ehm.. I know I should’ve done this earlier and when everyone was around but I.. want to say that.. I’m sorry if it seemed like I avoided any of you during the past days. It wasn’t my intention.”

Watching his sister as she spoke those words made Tony smile. Just a little but he could feel it tugging at his lips. There were moments during the last week where he stood in front of Mary’s door intending to talk to her. But in the end, he turned away. Sometimes because he wasn’t sure what to say or where to start. Sometimes because he wasn’t sure if Mary did have had enough time for herself. What if she wasn’t ready to talk even though he was? Or was he not?

He doubted himself. He didn’t see himself as a good brother, sometimes not even a good person in general. What would he say to Mary once he decided to knock on her door? What would she say?

He had no idea how she felt, what was going on in her head because on the outside she appeared to be happy and that was clearly wrong. Tony understood that she wanted to go out. Experience something else so to speak. While Mary had made her peace with living in darkness she didn’t want to spend that only inside the tower and with the same old people. Maybe, one reason for his fear of all those bad things that could happen, was because he had seen what humans were capable of in the past.

“Should we go?”

And with that, they left.


	14. The One where Mary makes the first Step

The last time Tony had been in Mary’s room had been a while ago.

There simply was no need for it since she would usually spend her time in the main room where everyone else was.

Aside from that Tony felt as if it was better for Mary to have her own private space where she could retreat to whenever she liked without anyone bothering her. After their fight, it was her number one go-to place to get away from him. This room had the same meaning for her as the lab had for him with the big difference that he didn’t live in his lab. Yes, he sometimes would fall asleep in his chair but that wasn’t comparable. 

Working on different things last week had given Tony quite some time to think about Mary’s words. About their fight which, in hindsight could have been avoided. So could have all of their fights if he was honest. All it would take was for one of them to back down. Take a step back, take a deep breath and then start again. Too bad stubbornness ran in the family.

“Do you want something to drink or a snack? I believe I should have some cookies or something”, Mary noted and, even before Tony answered her, began to gather everything she needed to make coffee. 

“I’m okay, thank you”, he was halfway at the couch when he decided to turn around and instead join Mary and help her in the kitchen. “Can I help you with anything?”

Mary shook her head. “No, I can do this alone.”

“I didn’t mean it like that, I just.. look we haven’t talked for a while and neither have we spend time together. All I want is for things to be normal again. Whatever normal means for us at this point.”

Placing two cups on the counter, Mary took a deep breath as she stood there unmoving. “I know. Tony.. I don’t want to ignore you but I’m simply angry about you not seeing my side of things. I get that you worry, I worry about you as well and when I say that it’ll never change for either one of us I don’t think I’d be lying.”

Agreeing with that Tony leaned over the small counter to take her hand and squeeze it gently. “I’m sorry for reacting the way I did. Not because of what I said because I still stand by that but of how I said it”, when Mary turned her head into his direction, her look telling him she was ready to say something because naturally, she would disagree he stopped her. “Let me continue, please. I’ve had time to think about our argument and yes, I do partly agree with what you’ve said to me. I guess a part of me is still living in the past. A lot of parts of me. There’s still the Tony from last year, who almost died and lives in this constant fear something else comes and tries to invade earth. There’s the old Tony you remember to push you away because”, inhaling deep Tony withdrew his hand from hers and closed his eyes for two seconds. “Because he was afraid to let someone he cared about in only for them to be hurt. And that’s what happened to this Tony, to me now. I let you in, I took chance number whatever and couldn’t protect you.. and I couldn’t protect Pepper either.”

“But we’re all still here, and we won’t go anywhere”, she said clicking her tongue. “Quite literally.” 

“You’re still mad.”

“Of course I am but I want to sort this out”, leaning against the counter the idea of making coffee had been pushed far away. Pepper had told her that Tony was scared and if someone could say that, other than Tony himself, it would be her. “We’ve both grown up under very different circumstances and I still feel like we live in different worlds. I thought I had found my place but I was proven wrong. I have to find a new place and I’m intending to prove to you that I don’t need your protection, that I can have a place outside of this”, she motioned at her surroundings.

“You do have a place outside the tower.”

“Right, that’s why you won’t allow me to go outside. Tony, I’m 3 times 7. I can make my own decisions and if I want to leave I’d just do so”, with the exception that she hadn’t because she didn’t want to make Tony upset or trigger any alarms to have Tony or anyone else follow her right away, effectively stopping her from running. Plus she had nowhere to go. Sure, Valerie would take her in for a while, no doubt here but Mary couldn't stay there forever. 

"I'm sorry you're what now?", seeing the questioning look Mary gave him he explained. "You said you're.. 3 times 7."

"Annette says that a lot. 3 times 7 is 21 meaning I'm an adult and I can do what I want and I am the one who has to live with the consequences."

Right, her mother's friend who was living in San Francisco. "Where was she from again?" 

"Germany", there was a pause before she continued on. "Maybe it's a German thing, I don't know. Anyway, you get what I mean."

Tony nodded. "I do", walking around the counter to stand by his sisters' side, Tony bumped his arm against hers lightly. “I don’t want to fight with you but I know that it will always happen because both of us don’t like to back down when we have a goal set in our mind. I don’t want to keep you here forever but right now I simply can’t let you wander around outside because I need to know you’re save.”

There was a vulnerability in his voice that was audible to Mary more than anything else. It reminded her so much of the day he broke down in the street just a few feet down from her apartment. The day he told her about the fight, about his nightmares. What she didn’t understand though was where this fear came from again, because to her, up until a few days ago he was doing fine.

And then she realized what had changed because a few days ago, two certain people arrived.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but has this anything to do with Loki?”

The one person Mary expected to have a problem with that was Clint and based on their talk he appeared to take the situation in rather good. Or maybe because he would go and leave the tower regularly while Tony stayed behind and thus constantly be confronted with Loki’s presence, Tony was reminded of last year more than others. Clint and most of the rest did try to get some distance between themselves and Loki whenever possible. Almost as if they ran away instead of facing what was making them feel uncomfortable.

Not Tony though. His escape was the lab and he kept most of his thoughts to himself instead of opening up to others. He almost seemed afraid to show his feelings, whatever nature they may have been, to others. Anger? Yes, no problem here. He would argue a lot but anything that made him appear weak was put into a box and stored far away. Situations like the one this very moment were rare and it showed Mary once more that Tony still had a lot of healing to do.

“He brought an alien army to earth. He brainwashed people, made them fight for him”, he moved a hand to his chest right were his arc reactor had been. “If it hadn’t been for a piece of metal the same would have gotten me as well. I’m not comfortable having him here. Especially since he could hurt you when we’re not around.”

Stepping back from the counter Mary turned into Tony’s direction. “It appears it would be better if I could go outside then because Loki won’t be able to do that”, there was a smile forming at the corner of her lips saying that. She was taunting him right now, Tony could tell that without a doubt. “I don’t want us to talk about this now though, let’s do it when you get back. For the beginning, I would be fine if Valerie could take me out maybe twice a month? The earpiece and the panic button should put you at ease somehow and if that’s not enough, maybe Natasha or Pepper would like to join. We could have something like a girls day out”, Mary said with a shrug.

“You’re not letting this one go are you?”, the answer he got from Mary was a shake of her head. “Figured that much. I mean.. right now I’m more worried about Loki pulling a stupid move while we’re gone than you going outside.”

“As far as I can tell he is behaving rather nice. Maybe he doesn’t want to get into trouble?”, she noticed.

“Are we talking about the same person right now?”

“You know Loki better than I do. All I’m saying is that since he arrived he didn’t do anything to anger any of us, maybe at one point that will change, I don’t know. It’s just that I understand that you don’t want him here. As do I understand anyone else who says that. But he is here now and maybe we should make the best out of it”, despite everything Loki had done to her brother, his friends, anyone in New York or wherever else, shutting Loki out, ignoring him, simply felt wrong. 

Maybe she was interpreting too much into what she heard and thus picked up but if Loki and Thor were not related by blood and had different parents, Thor didn’t care. He continued to call Loki his brother and Odin their father. There was something in the tone of his voice. Almost like he needed Loki to be his brother because there was no other way, no other truth for him. Mary couldn’t imagine how he must feel about being here with Loki and seeing his friends ignore his brother completely. No one intended to sit next to him when they ate together, no one greeted him other than Steve and Mary wasn’t exactly sure if he did it because he wanted to or because he tried to be nice even though the whole situation was a little messed up.

“I told you that I believe everyone deserves a chance and that includes that we should not ignore Loki. Maybe he’ll play along if we show him some hospitality.”

“Allowing him to stay is enough of that”, Tony said with a huff.

“You really don’t like him.”

“Let’s just say he makes it easy to hate him and if I can be honest with you, I don’t like you spending time with him.”

Mary figured as much. “I’m trying to be nice. Might raise my chances to not have Loki bother me once he’s comfortable enough to break your rules”, she gave Tony a wink before moving her hand up to his face. There was a moment of silence as her fingers brushed over the skin on his cheek and his beard. “Hey Tony, you know that I love you right? No matter how much we fight or simply not agree on the same things”, she could feel him move his head to nod as he leaned into the touch of her hand, making her smile, but there was something else she felt as she moved her fingers. “It appears you have gained a few extra wrinkles.”

“Because you’re driving me crazy. By the way, I’m getting grey hair too if you want to comment on that”, he watched as Mary chuckled and when she withdrew her hand, he grabbed it halfway. He watched her narrow his eyes as he did so and at first didn’t say anything but instead just stood there. “I love you too. Please promise me to not get too cozy with Loki while we’re gone and once we’re back, we’ll talk about that girl’s day out.”

“Sounds like an okay deal to me.”

Tony could tell there was a little hesitation coming from Mary. "Are you sure you're going to be okay without us?" 

"Yes Tony, I am. If there's a problem I'll tell Jarvis or call someone like Valerie or Pepper. I've been here alone before, I doubt it'll be much different even with someone else being here."

Because if she was honest she didn’t believe Loki being inside the tower would change anything regarding her daily routine. He already kept to himself, so why would anything change now? Well maybe, since he wouldn’t have anyone else breathing down his neck, he would be a little more relaxed and wander around. Which technically was something that should end with Jarvis informing Tony if she hadn’t interfered with that. 

Suddenly Mary had the nagging feeling that she had made a mistake.

~*~

It had been three days since the Avengers had left the tower and thus left him and the woman named Mary alone.

Loki didn’t mind being alone, in fact, he preferred it. Not having everyone stare at him and most importantly not having Thor follow him like he was a child who wasn’t able to take care of himself. It felt good to be able to just sit in his room and not having someone knock because he decided to spend an hour or more inside of it. It did, however, get boring quite fast. His room, though it was more of a prison cell, didn’t have a lot of things in it. A bed, a dresser, and a desk. There was a TV but when Loki had turned it on for the first time and checked it out, he came to the conclusion that the program shown wasn’t worth his time.

Now all he had was a book he had snagged from a shelf in the living room.

And he had finished that twice already since he had taken it.

There were still two more days to go before the others would be back and at this point, Loki began to think about checking out a few things in the living room so he could eventually start on his mission to get back to Asgard. Which was an easy mission. All he needed to do was say one wrong word and he’d be back. Technically at least. A lot of things were working against him, like Thor who was always right there next to him so he could go in between any building argument. Thor was usually the one who would take it upon himself to calm him down. Take him by the arm and drag him out of the room and far away from everyone else.

Then there were Steve and Mary who, given they were around at that moment, would take care of everyone else.

Especially Mary seemed to have taken it on herself to make sure everyone remained calm though that mostly referred to Tony who got easily irritated by Loki just being in the same room. Not to mention the looks during every meal because Mary continued to sit with him and Thor.

She wasn't talking a lot. She would greet them, maybe make a little small talk as she was interested in what Asgard was like. When they told her about it she mentioned that it sounded like a place from a fairy tale she would love to visit if it was possible. Something she didn't believe to be. One because based on what she had been told about Asgard it didn't sound like it was open for 'tourists' and two because even if she went there, everything she had been told about how it looked didn't mean anything to her. 

A few days before the departure Loki had walked into the main room to find Thor and Mary sitting on the couch facing each other. Her hands were tracing all over his face as if she was trying to paint a picture in her mind. Sure enough, Loki could hear her ask questions every once in a while and one he could hear clearly was about Thor's eye color. 

There was no way for her to go around Asgard or any place for that matter and touch everything so she had a picture in mind. 

Loki was sure that if he began to mess with people, she would be a good place to start based on her affliction. 

Closing the book, Loki got up from the chair at his desk. He was halfway finished once again and if he continued to read he would go crazy. He needed something else to do. Maybe wandering the living room he could start and move a few small things around without anyone noticing for the moment. 

A knock on his door called for his attention. 

"Yes?", he asked even though he knew there was only one person who could be standing outside his room. 

"It's Mary", her voice was a bit louder than usual, which probably was due to a closed door between them and her speaking up so he would hear her better. "Do you have a second?" 

Sighing, Loki walked towards the door and opened it. He watched as Mary took a step back before her eyes moved up when he spoke. "What do you want?", he asked. He couldn't deny that looking into her eyes was somewhat unsettling. 

"Sorry if I'm bothering you but there are two things I wanted to talk about. One", she held up a finger. "I want to order food and I figured you would like something as well so, anything you prefer?" 

Loki narrowed his eyes. "I'm not particularly picky. Just order whatever you like. What's the second thing you wanted?" 

"Uh, this might start out weird so just bear with it. I know you've been spending the last days inside your room reading the same book over and over again. Jarvis told me about that", it almost made her feel like a stalker. "If you enjoy reading there's a small study with several shelves full of books. You can check that out if you want."

This was interesting. 

Since he was told not to go 'snooping' around, going to the study to get other books meant he was going to break rules. Which did mean he would be sent to Asgard and that wasn't bad right? "Correct me if I'm wrong but according to your brother that would be breaking a rule, won't it?" 

"Not if he doesn't know about it", Mary said with a shrug. "Listen, I'm sure Jarvis could give you a list of the books that are here and then I could pick them up for you, but it's easier if you go yourself. Jarvis can tell you the way, just think about it. I promise he won't tell anyone."

"Really? And why should I believe that?" 

She smiled. "Because I'm not Tony. And.. seeing nothing but darkness gets boring, so can seeing the same walls over and over again I suppose."

"If you're trying to make friends here.."

"I'm not", interrupting Loki she shook her head. "I believe there would be a lot of people being against that anyway. Do with it whatever you want, I'm gonna go and order the food. I'll let you know when it's here." With that Mary turned around and walked away, leaving Loki standing in the door frame as he watched the woman's back. 

Waiting until he couldn't see her anymore he turned around, walked back into his room and closed the door. This wasn't anything he had expected to happen at any point and he wasn't able to tell whether or not Mary was setting him up to do something 'wrong'. 

Did it matter? 

Maybe. 

Maybe not. 

He would take his chance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure if the 3 times 7 thing is in fact a German thing. While I'm from Germany myself my best friend, who lives in the next state, has heard of it. My friends who I've known since school and live in the same town as I haven't.
> 
> My mum uses it a lot and my grandma did as well. To be fair, all my grandparents were born in different states before moving here so this might be a very regional thing. Just like we have way too many names for different bakery goods depending on the region you're in. :'D
> 
> Anyway, I hope you'll have a nice weekend.


	15. The One with the first Lie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wish everyone a happy New Year!

The next couple of days were just as uneventful as the first.

Mary continued to order food for Loki and herself. Since he had said he wasn’t picky she just went for things she liked or things she didn’t have in a while. Sometimes it was pizza, other times fried rice.

While ordering food was nowhere near what she would cook with the help of her friends, it was much easier. Whenever they cooked Mary would take over simple tasks. Like cutting or washing food for example. That was easy enough to do for her because cooking itself wasn’t anymore. And it didn’t help that over the past weeks she had noticed that she was a little more sensitive to smells. Which meant that, while cooking, she was able to tell when things started to burn before someone else noticed it.

That didn’t help her telling when things were done in general though.

She would have to taste things to be able to tell that but it was better to see certain things before tasting. The last thing Mary wanted was to eat raw meat and so she let her friends take the lead. What she also learned was to leave the seasoning to them as well.

Despite not feeling like much of a help, she enjoyed the time they spent together.

It was fun and it felt good.

Those were the times were Mary felt normal. Not that she wasn’t.

But it were those moments that made her forget what happened. And she did not only mean the New York attack and her kidnapping, but also her mother’s death. Nothing of all that mattered. She was just a young woman enjoying life.

These days that meant takeaway for herself and the God of Mischief who spend most of his time in his room even though no one was at the tower to bother him.

Whenever food came Mary asked Jarvis to inform Loki that his share was in the kitchen. Later on, she would get a notice that he had picked up the food and retreated back to his room. Another thing Mary learned was that Loki decided to check out the study to get a few books. She had to smile upon hearing that. For all Loki knew she had been lying about keeping it a secret from Tony and he was fully aware of Loki’s rule-breaking. And then when the team would be back from whatever mission they were on, Loki was in for a surprise.

Mary knew that this wasn’t the case.

She had no intention of telling her brother and Jarvis had promised her not to tell Tony either.

Now, of course, Mary had no idea if Tony could check any surveillance videos without Jarvis knowing about it. Because that would complicate things. 

Even if she didn’t feel completely comfortable and there were several people ready to stop her, she intended to try her best and make Loki trust her. Maybe even become friends. Would that be too much? Quite possibly. It didn’t stop her from going to his room, a plate with a piece of cake in one hand.

Pepper had brought the cake by earlier that day as she checked on Mary to ask how she was doing. She hadn’t hidden the fact that Tony asked her to do so. Neither did she keep it a secret that Tony was worried because he had left Mary alone with Loki. For some reason, instead of calling her he’d rather send other people he trusted to see if things were fine.

Even though Pepper didn’t say anything, there was this tone in her voice telling Mary the other woman wasn’t too happy to play babysitter.

They had talked about it. How Pepper felt almost as if she was the only person who willingly went to pick up Tony’s mess. Both literally and figuratively. Mary could understand the woman not being okay with how things were. Pepper had a lot of work to do but still, somehow, managed to take care of other things and people as well. Sometimes she would do so on her own and other times after she was asked but she didn’t want to complain.

Especially not to Tony and that had various reasons. None of which Pepper wanted to get into.

However, Mary was aware of a few things that might have been the reason for Pepper not opening up about it though she liked to preach that to others.

Something had happened to Pepper over Christmas. Mary only knew little tidbits of it. Neither Pepper nor Tony mentioned it but whatever had occurred, had sent Tony back into a dark place. At the same time, she was kidnapped and he had to worry about two people he loved at once and now, after most things had calmed down, Pepper and Mary still felt that worry full force.

Pepper had to admit that Mary was in a very different situation than she was herself. After all, she was able to walk away whenever she liked. Seeing Mary talking about learning braille with so much passion in her voice when they sat together one day, showed Pepper how much Mary was suffering on the inside and the fight between her and Tony wouldn’t be the last. She was sure about that.

And so both women had come to an agreement: 

try to support and help each other so Tony could relax a little more and maybe not be as overbearing as he was currently. 

Though Mary had her doubts that would work, especially once he would find out she was trying to befriend Loki while no one was around to stop her.

When she knocked on the door she didn’t expect Loki to open and thus was surprised when he did.

“What do you want?”

Of course, he wasn’t happy to see her, to be disturbed doing whatever it was he did all day besides reading. He always sounded like he felt bothered by anyone talking to him though Mary felt that whenever she was the one talking he was showing his discomfort of having to put up with her more than to anyone else. Though Mary assumed it was because she couldn’t see his body language so he just made sure she was put off by the tone of his voice.

“I brought cake”, she said as a matter of fact as she held up the plate. “I don’t know if you like it or not but I thought you would at least appreciate the thought.”

“You should be aware that I’m not here to make friends yet for some reason you seem to try getting on my good side.”

Lowering the plate Mary spoke. “I thought it would be a nice gesture. I’m aware you don’t want to be here and most people don’t want you here either.”

“Then why do you?”

“Never said I did, however”, she paused for a moment. “Maybe I’m overstepping some kind of boundary here and maybe I’m misinterpreting things as well but your brother cares a lot about you and he’s trying hard to not have the others send you back. I can tell he believes in you being capable to change. Having an older sibling myself I can understand where Thor comes from and also you not liking it but sometimes.. I think it’s the wiser decision to take a step back and think about the wellbeing of your family and friends.”

Loki watched her closely. Every word she spoke, every movement she made.

She believed it.

She believed that sometimes it was better for you to put others first even if that meant you were the one to be hurt.

He wasn’t oblivious to what was happening around him even though he didn’t feel the need to care. Being here was only temporarily and he intended to have some fun. Whether or not Mary had noticed the first little changes he had made was not known to him at this moment. Mary was suffering from being held captive. There was no reason to call it anything different because whenever she intended to leave, someone stopped her.

For some reason, despite her initial protests, she accepted her fate.

Something he never would.

Grabbing the plate his fingers touched hers. The sudden contact surprising her so much she almost let go of said plate and took a step back.

A sly smile crept on Loki’s lips. “If you’re so scared of me, maybe you shouldn’t come to see me on your own. It would be so easy for me to hurt you and I’ll be back in Asgard immediately.”

The change in his voice from irritated by her showing up at his door to this mischievous threat he spoke out loud made her blood run cold. Mary didn’t doubt one bit that Loki would hurt her if he wanted to. There was no one to stop him, even if Jarvis contacted Tony or she would press the panic button - the damage would have already been done. 

“You’re either stupid to come here or brave, I’m not sure yet which it is. Maybe a bit of both”, leaning in closer his voice became low. “Whatever it is, I’m gonna enjoy this while it lasts”, that said Loki stepped back into his room, his door creaking slightly as he began to close it. Before it was closed completely he spoke once again. “Thank you for the cake.”

And then the door shut close.

It took Mary a handful of minutes to sort her thoughts and force herself to move away, back into her room where no one could get her. This was the first time she had felt scared of Loki. Of what he could do if he wanted. Even without whatever power he usually held because of him being a God, he could easily overpower her at any given moment.

This was also the first time she came to understand why everyone else wasn’t keen on letting Loki stay. He was good at hiding his true intentions and then when no one was around to see it, he would strike. More or less. All he had done was to threaten her. For now at least. 

Tony and the others would be back tomorrow and for a while, Mary wouldn’t need to worry about what Loki would do or not. But what when they were out on a mission again? Would he continue to play by the rules or would he hurt her? It was as if he was waiting for the right moment to strike. Given everything that moment would be when no one was there stop him.

Maybe it was a mistake to try and befriend Loki.

~*~

The relief of having everyone back with her was something Mary couldn’t hide from the more perceptive people like Natasha for example. 

The redhead could tell that something must have happened while they were gone, however, when Tony asked if there had been any incidents, Mary had told him that everything was fine. That there was no need for him to worry. Jarvis had said the same thing. Loki hadn’t done anything and continued to play by the rules Tony had set.

But something felt off.

Maybe Jarvis simply hadn’t seen it?

And so Natasha watched the other woman closely. How she talked, her body language and when she caught Mary alone, Natasha decided to talk to her. Woman to woman.

“Are you sure you’re okay? It seems like you’re.. I’m not sure how to put it, a little too happy that we’re back? If that makes sense. I know you and Jarvis said that Loki didn’t do anything but I have to wonder if that’s true?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”, she should have known Natasha would be able to spot that something was off. She usually was the one to notice things like that first. And she was also the one to go and ask about it without holding back. “Everything is fine. I guess I just.. felt lonelier than I thought I would. Loki isn’t really one to talk so the only person I was able to talk to is Jarvis and Pepper when she stopped by. I don’t think that Tony and I have really talked out the argument before you left but even though I did miss talking to him as well.”

Natasha narrowed her eyes. “Tony didn’t call you?”

“No? You make it sound like you thought he would?”, Mary noticed as she continued. “I didn’t think he would to be honest.”

“He sure was worried about you. He almost constantly talked to us about it and he checked in with Jarvis every day. Sometimes more than once. I saw him making a few calls so I assumed he had talked to you.”

“That probably was Pepper. She stopped by to check on me and told me that she was asked to do so.”

“Tony?”

Mary nodded. “Who else?”

“I’d say you two need a day just for you. Go out and talk on neutral ground as people like to say. I don’t know when Fury will come by with the next assignment. It might be months or weeks, but it could also be just a handful of days.”

A handful of days.

Mary wondered if Fury had let Tony and the rest of the hook because of her. Now that she was able to handle herself, for the most part, he surely would call for them more often. And maybe Natasha was right about the handful of days. Just as she was right about the siblings needing some time for just the two of them. Sit together and talk like they did before. Get some food or try and cook together.

“Maybe you’re right. I’ll make sure to talk to him”, that said Mary moved her open hand towards Natasha. When the other woman took it, Mary gave it a short squeeze. “Thanks. For being worried and coming to me instead of sending someone else.”

“Not my style”, Natasha said with a smile. “Besides, we’re friends right?”

There was just the slightest bit of hesitation. “Yeah. We are.”

Deciding to not question any further, especially given that both women sat in the living area where others could hear them if they decided to pay attention, Natasha left it at that for now.

For some reason, most of them went on about their lives like everything was perfectly normal. As if Mary wasn’t blind and Loki wasn’t here.

Bruce almost immediately went to the lab to check on a few things he couldn’t finish before leaving for the mission. Not that he was one to sit together with the rest. He preferred being on his own. Working without anyone bothering him. Same went for Tony though he stopped by the main area a lot more nowadays and was entering said area just moments after Natasha and Mary had stopped talking.

Then there was Clint who had stayed for a few hours after getting back but then excused himself saying that there were a few S.H.I.E.L.D. related things he had to take care of. Natasha knew it was a lie. She also knew that given someone would ask him, Fury would confirm that. The truth was that Clint went to see his family. Spend some time with his wife and kids like he was supposed to if it wouldn’t be for him being part of this team.

That left Steve and Thor who decided to try and cook something for everyone.

They had grown closer talking about different things they had experienced in their very different lives. Plus Steve, just like Mary, tried to get Loki more involved in things around the tower. Thor acknowledged that and had expressed gratitude for not judging his brother based on the past but instead giving him a chance to be a better person.

Looking over to Loki, who had taken a seat far away from everyone else, Natasha noticed that he was reading a book. Not that it was uncommon for him to do so. In fact, it was what he usually did. Whether he actually read said book or just pretended to do so, so no one would talk to him was a whole different matter. She had seen him reading before several times. The book back then, however, was a different one.

And she wasn’t the only one to notice.

"Where did you get that book?", Tony asked while pointing at the object in Loki's hands as he walked further into the room. 

"The study", came the answer as Loki put the book down to look at the other man. There was no doubt Tony was looking for something to blame Loki with. Like entering a room he wasn't supposed to be in, especially on his own. 

Hearing how Loki sounded as if he didn't care about possible trespassing did rub Tony the wrong way. "Which means that you have broken a rule that we clearly agreed on."

"If that is what you think."

Hearing the conversation loud and clear, Mary turned in her seat but before she could say anything the conversation between the two men continued and Natasha put a hand on her shoulder saying a silent ‘ _Don’t go between them_ ’.

"What else am I supposed to think? That a ghost brought you the book?" 

"No. Your sister did."

Mary? Tony couldn't deny being surprised to hear that on one hand. On the other hand, it made a little sense. Given the last talk they had before him and the others left, he knew that Mary tried to be friendly towards Loki. That apparently meant to get him to feel more comfortable. Turning around to his sister he could see her having her attention partly turned to him and Natasha who almost looked like she had stopped Mary from saying something.

"I told you that I understood your rules, haven't I? Maybe you should ask her then if you don't believe me”, he motioned towards the woman.

“Okay then”, turning his attention to Mary completely Tony spoke. “In case you haven’t heard everything Loki and I talked about just now I’m giving you three words: Loki, study and book.”

“I did hear you”, well, here goes nothing. “I’m not deaf after all. I offered Loki to get him a few books from the study so he could read. Jarvis mentioned he had taken a book from the living room. I figured he might want to read something different so Jarvis gave him a list of books available, he picked some out and I went to get them", she said with a shrug. "I didn't see a problem with that. I mean, is it a problem?" 

"You got the books?" 

Mary nodded in response. "Jarvis guided me to find them when I was inside the study. You can ask him. I'm sure he has surveillance videos to back me up on that."

At this point, Steve and Thor had picked up on the conversation as well and listened intently. The God of Thunder a lot more given that Tony had accused his brother of breaking the rules that decided over whether or not Loki could stay on earth.

“I feel like that might be a little excessive”, Steve noted from the kitchen. “I mean I know we have cameras around the place for security reasons and Mary told you to check them just now but, I don’t see why she would lie about this.”

“Thank you Steve”, yes, why would she lie about this?

Of course it was a lie but only three people knew this. Her, Loki and Jarvis. She certainly didn’t intend on telling the truth, Jarvis promised not to tell it and Loki? Well, who knew? He had told her he would enjoy ‘this’ while it lasted. Whatever ‘this’ meant. All Mary knew was that he wouldn’t be able to enjoy anything if he decided to rat her out to her brother right now.

Tony wanted to trust Mary, there was no reason not to do. He didn’t need any video to know she was telling the truth. But it didn’t hurt to ask. “Jarvis? Is what my sister says true?”

“Yes sir”, came the immediate answer. “I guided Mary to find the books Loki was interested in. I can assure you the ones he finished reading have been returned to the study. I apologize for not having informed you about this.”

“It’s okay Jarvis”, Tony said turning from his sister to Loki. “I’m sorry for not believing you. It doesn’t mean you’re off the hook.”

“Of course not.”

“Thank you Tony”, it was Thor. 

The man shook his head. “Don’t thank me, thank my sister.”

Before Thor was able to, Mary interrupted him and stood up. “It’s no big deal. I simply cleared up a small misunderstanding that could’ve turned into something bigger, which brings me to something else. I’d like to talk to you, Tony.”

He sure wasn’t going to deny his sister's request. Not even when she asked him to go outside together to have that talk. And while they did so and left the others alone to go on about their day, no one noticed Loki’s eyes following Mary until she and Tony vanished from sight.

If Loki was honest he had no idea how this situation would play out when Tony asked about the book. A part of him still believed that Mary had lied and no one would believe him or her for that matter. But they did. Even Jarvis confirmed her story which he knew was a lie. It had been him to enter the study and browse the books. If Tony had decided to watch the surveillance videos he would have seen it with his own eyes but somehow the word of his sister and an AI was everything he needed.

The question was whether or not Mary would continue to lie for him if he would do more than get some books to read.


End file.
